Something To Shoot For
by nurzubesuch
Summary: When Carlton's ex-wife is kidnapped Shawn tries everything he can to help. But it's not money the kidnapper is after.  Sequel to "In Case of Murder"
1. The Wrong Move

**Well, as already stated, this story is the continuation of "In Case Of Murder". It´s definitely helpful to read that one first (and of course you may review it too ;-) **

**Another note: I never warn of character death because I don´t wanna spoil my own stories. I don´t say it happens but you should always be prepared.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**

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><p><strong>The Wrong Move<strong>

It was a bright, sunny day in Santa Barbara. One of these days when you take your girlfriend out for a stroll into the city to test the menu of the new Mexican restaurant that had opened right over the street from the theater. And if one didn´t have his girlfriend at hand right now, he would take his best buddy instead. That´s what Shawn Spencer did. Or better what he had done. The early brunch he and his best friend Gus had taken was already over, though they had entered the restaurant only a quarter ago. Evidently these Mexicans served their food rather quickly but also evidently very very hot. Gus was the first who rushed out of the door (he hadn´t even waited for his change) and Shawn, a taco to go in one hand and a smoothy in the other, had to run to catch up with him.

„Aw, come on, dude." he called apologetic.

„I should have known, Shawn." Gus replied while looking around for the next water source.

„You should have known what?" Shawn pretended to be innocent.

„I should have known that there was something wrong when you offered to pay. And even if not then, I should have known as soon as I learned that you had ordered both our foods yesterday."

„I had no idea you wouldn´t stand this special double chilli pack." Shawn said.

„Then why didn´t you order it for both of us?"

„Dude, I have to save some of my money." Shawn replied. „That stuff is expensive. But for my friend there is nothing too good. You´re still recovering after all. You need some meat on your bones. Doctors orders."

„I´ll slap you, Shawn."

„But there is a good part in it, too." Shawn went on as if he hadn´t heard Gus´ last words. „Now we know that it is not a good idea to eat this thing on an empty stomach."

„It´s not a good idea to eat it on any stomach." Gus replied. Then he finally spotted something. „I need a milk." he said and started to head for the next drugstore.

„What do you need that for?"

„The milk neutralizes the sharp taste." Gus explained rather nerved before he entered the drugstore without waiting for Shawn.

Shawn just chuckled and decided to wait outside in the sun. The shop owner wouldn´t appreciate him eating his taco in there anyway. Gus was probably right about the special double chili, he mused. It wasn´t that special after all. Good that he hadn´t tried it. His gustatory nerves were too delicate for such a furios meal. He had to treat them with more light flavours. The taco he had served himself to was quiet enough of hot foot for them. He bit it and nodded satisfied to himself. Yap. That was the much better version. Who cares for such a fake special anyway? Everybody knew that they were nothing but marketing tricks. One should know better and stick to what he knew and knew that it was good.

While he ate and waited for Gus to come back out of the drugstore, he let his gaze wander over the street. People were walking by, chatting, sometimes laughing. Barely someone was in a hurry or bearded with stress as far as he could see it. It was still rush-hour traffic, the most busy time in this part of the city, where all the restaurants, Starbucks and cafés were settled. But still, people seemed to enjoy the little chill out moment they had, by drinking their coffee before heading to work. Must be the effect of the nice weather. Such a shiny day seemed to raise the mood of everyone. That had been the reason why Shawn had taken Gus here for a bite to eat. Even though he had played him one of his usual pranks, he had actually done it to help his friend recover, just as he said. Not with the food but with some normality. And playing Gus pranks was normality. Nothing could heal a person more than that. Especially after being almost killed.

Gus was out of hospital for two weeks now and he was still not his old selve. He drove slowly and he walked slowly. Shawn knew it wasn´t because he was in any pain. The doctors had given him medication for any pain that should possibly get back to him. Though they didn´t expect any. No, the reason why Gus was keeping it slow was because he was still struck by what had happened. He had seen his life rushing by before his very eyes and now he was afraid. Shawn was no psychologist like his Mom but he knew that his friend was suffering from some sort of a trauma. He wanted him to overcome this state. He wanted the old Gus back. That was the reason why he teased him. Carefully but he did. Teasing Gus was the only way of luring him out of his shell. It had always been that way. And surely a nice day like that was a perfect setup for this kind of therapy. Everybody had to be intrigued by that beautiful atmosphere. Everyone but Lassie of course. He looked as grim as ever, even more.

Shawn needed ten more seconds before he realized what was wrong with this picture. Why by heavens sake was the head detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department standing here in the middle of town while he should be at the station? Maybe he was getting himself a coffee like everybody else. That could be the reason. But if that was so, why did he carry this bag with him then? And since when for heaven´s sake did he wear jeans and t-shirt instead of his suit and tie? And even if Shawn could have overlooked this (what was impossible to even think after seeing the man in nothing else over all these years) what the hell was he trying to prove with that ridiculously hilarious hat? It was a bowler hat in screaming red, a black band around it. Everybody who passed Lassiter threw a confused look at it but he didn´t even seem to notice these gazes.

Shawn swallowed his latest bite of the taco rather dryly. What the hell was that all about? Was that really Lassie? Or had the man a secret twin he never told them about? But that was outrageous. Only Lassie could look that grim and not fall apart in the process. There was no mistake. But that also meant that something was out of order. Way out of order.

Shawn took a decision and then walked over the street. His curiosity was stronger than his shock over this strange and rather insane appearance of the usually so straight and uptight head detective. One look into Lassie´s face had told Shawn two things. One: the man wasn´t here to get some coffee. And two: there was something that worried him much more than a special double chili pack on an empty stomach could do. It was also very unlikely that he had lost a bet since Shawn really didn´t believe that Carlton Lassiter would ever take a bet that ridiculous.

Shawn might not be a real psychic, but sometimes he didn´t need to be one to know that something was wrong. Terribly wrong. Considering Lassie´s outfit Shawn was even ready to accept drug abuse.

„Hey, Lassie!" he greeted with a wide grin, when he reached him, pretending not to be too startled.

The detective spun around at this and there was an expression on his face, that made Shawn´s grin fade away immediately. It was something he had never seen before in Lassiter´s face, not even when he had played one of his pranks on him. It was not the usual annoyance that seemed to come over the detective´s mood every time Shawn and Gus came near him (the coincidence was amazing, he always mused but he was sure there was no connection at all). Neither was it the slightly angry face, he sometimes gave him, after a clashing chat, that he knew Lassiter enjoyed as much as he did (he would more if he wouldn´t lose them all the time, but it would be unfair of Shawn to let him win on purpose, ´cause honestly, where would be the fun in that?) No this time it was an expression of pure shock and, yes, almost fear.

What was the matter with him? In that moment Shawn was almost really worried. Maybe the two bullets Lassiter had taken in their last adventure had had a more severe effect on him, than Shawn had expected. Or maybe it had been the cold of the water. Couldn´t that do serious damage to a brain? He didn´t know for sure but in this moment he was ready to accept the possibility.

„Go away, Spencer." Lassiter hissed. „Go back, wherever you came from and stay away from me."

„Lassie, what´s wrong?" he asked confused. „Did I …?"

„Leave me alone." Lassiter yelled at him and pushed him more than just harsh but almost violently.

Shawn stumbled backwards and looked at Lassiter more than just startled. He was used to harsh words but he had never gotten physical in his annoyance. This attack as brief as it had been, almost hurt. It had come so unforeseen and suddenly that he had felt not only Lassiter´s hands that pushed him back but also a wave of fury coming along with it. It was like a headshot.

„I don´t have time for your silly jokes." Lassiter now told him, before Shawn had a chance to ask what he had done wrong. „Not today. Hit the deck. Now."

Lassiter looked around with wild and searching eyes. The expression he gave Shawn was the one of a haunted animal that expected the hunter to come around the next corner every second. Now Shawn got a hunch on what was going on here.

„Oh, damn." he said. „You´re on an undercover mission. That´s it, isn´t it? What is it? A drug deal to go down here? Or weapons?"

„Just leave me alone." Lassiter urged him again. „Immediately."

Shawn was about to do so, when Lassiter´s eyes jumped from him to a point somewhere behind him. First Shawn expected it to be Gus, who had finally left the drugstore and caught up with him. But when he turned around, it was a man he had never seen before. He was wearing a grey suit that was too tight for him and he was badly shaved. Still he seemed to be the man Lassiter had been waiting for, because when he noticed that Shawn was talking to Lassiter, he turned around and left.

„No." Carlton cried. „No, don´t go! Wait!"

The man ran down the street and Lassiter followed him, screaming after him in desperation: „I have your money!"

Shawn just stood on his place struck and unable to digest what was happening in front of his very own eyes. Did he really just hear what he believed he had heard? Without realizing it, he started to run after the two men as well.

The man in the grey suit had reached a car, spun around and pulled a gun. That was the moment when Shawn found himself not just following anymore but racing. He had no idea how he managed it to catch up with Lassiter in time nor why the detective, who usually pulled his gun on every occasion that offered itself to him, didn´t do so now. But when the bullet left the gun of the bad guy, Shawn threw himself at Lassiter and they both hit the ground hard and hurting.

All around people started to scream after the shot had disturbed the peaceful day and the neat environment became a chaos of running pedestrians. The man in the tight suit decided not to try to shoot them again and climbed into the car instead. Lassiter shoved Shawn aside and struggled back to his feet. In the process he grabbed the bag, he had lost before and waved for the man with his free hand.

„Please!" he cried. „Please, don´t go!"

In that moment the car´s motor started and a second after that, it went off in an explosion. Lassiter was thrown backwards and so was Shawn and everybody else who was in a radius of maybe ten feet around the car. When they looked up the car was burning and the guy that sat behind the wheel was toast.

Shawn´s ears were still ringing after the blast. He needed a while until he realized what had just happened. Then he remembered Lassiter and turned around. The detective had just come up from the ground as well, seemingly just woken up from a short pass out. Shawn crawled the few feet over to him, to see if he was all right.

„Lassie?" he croaked.

But instead of assuring him that everything was all right and that he wasn´t hurt, Lassiter stared at the burning car wide eyed and then at him in a sudden fury. He grabbed him by the collar and threw him back to the ground, leaning over him like a predator that just got his prey.

„That´s your fault, Spencer!" he yelled into his face and for a moment Shawn was sure he would punch him, or hit his head down on the pavement until it cracked. But instead of doing so, Lassiter just went on yelling at him. „If you hadn´t interfered, he´d never run. They wanted me to come alone!"

Shawn gasped and his heart was racing rapidly in his chest. He had never been afraid of Lassiter, no matter how often he had threatened to shoot him. But now he was scared. That fury in the eyes of the man that was coming down on him, was real. And it cried for blood.

„Who?" he managed to get out.

„The men who have my wife!" Carlton cried. His grip on Shawn´s collar weakened a little. „They said if I tell anyone, she´d be dead." he explained. Then he grabbed Shawn tighter again and raised him off the ground, bringing his face so close to his own that their noses almost bumped into another. The fury was back.

„If she dies because of you, Spencer." Carlton hissed. „I´ll kill you with my bare hands."

And for the first time since he knew him, Shawn was sure, that Lassiter truly meant what he said.


	2. Let Me Help You

**Let me help you**

„SHAWN!" Gus yelled running over the street. „Shawn what happened?"

Shawn had just managed to stand up again, after this very startling and very very disturbing experience of being threatened by Lassiter for real. His legs were still shaking. Gus took that as an effect from the event of a blown up car and even liftet him up so he could stand. Shawn noticed that Gus´ hands were shaking as well. That had to be the explosion it rushed through his head. There it was. The trauma. Good that he hadn´t been there when the car went off.

„Are you okay?" Gus asked and then noticed Lassiter for the first time. His worry was immediately replaced by total confusion about the detective´s appearance.

„Don´t worry, Gus." Shawn said with a shaking voice. „He was already wearing that before the explosion. It´s not an effect of the blast."

„And that is supposte to ease me?" Gus asked grateful for the opportunity to hide his shaking behind the joke.

Behind them horns approached very quickly and ten seconds later, two police cars and one beige car that had only one horn at the roof, stood in the street. Four officers jumped out of the black and whites and started to secure the street right away.

„Shawn!" Juliet cried when she saw them. Her voice was a mixture of worry and surprise. „We got a call that there was an explosion. Are you all right? What happened?"

When she recognized her partner in the third person, she reacted as irritated as Gus had done before.

„Don´t worry, Jules." Shawn said. „No one´s hurt. At least … none of us. The guy in the car … I´m not so sure."

„Did you see what happened?" she asked him, forcing herself not to stare at Lassiter anymore and failed.

„You can say that." Shawn threw a look at Lassiter, but the detective didn´t seem as if he wanted to say something.

„Well, what was it?" Juliet urged for an answer without noticing Shawn´s checking glance at her partner.

Shawn cleared his throat. „Well actually it´s quiet simple." he said. „Though it´s not very clear. At least not to me. Maybe I can get a vision later but right now I´m still a little shaken by the blast."

„Are you hurt?" she asked worried raising a hand as if to touch his head but not quiet doing so in fear she could hurt him more than help.

„No, I´m fine." he assured her smiling.

„Okay." she replied a little released and then looked over at her partner again and the worry was back. „What happened?" she asked again. „What did you see?"

„Well, I saw a man." Shawn said. „That ran down the street. To this car. And I saw that man. Pulling out a gun. And shooting at …" there he hesitated, wondering if he should say that it was Lassiter, the man had tried to shoot. But the detective took the decision from him.

„Me." he finished the sentence for him.

Juliet looked at her partner in shock. „Why?" she asked. „Did you … Did you shoot first? I mean … was he …?"

„No." Shawn took over again. „He didn´t shoot at all. Strange but true. The guy didn´t give him a chance to pull his gun. Though Lassie called after him to stop. That´s what I heard."

„Why did you do that?" Juliet asked her partner.

„I saw that he was carrying a weapon." Carlton answered as steady as he could. „When he noticed that I saw it, he ran. That was suspicious and I followed him."

Juliet nodded thoughtfully. Then she looked at him again with this confused and yet worried look from before.

„Carlton, is everything all right?" she asked him. „You called in sick this morning."

„That´s right." he quickly affirmed. „I just came from my doctor, when this incident occurred." He noticed that O´Hara had started to look him up and down with a weird look in her eyes. „What?" he asked.

„Nothing." she said with a brief shake of her head. Her eyes were still fixated on his cloths. „Just … nothing." She shook her head again.

„Maybe someone can explain to me why the car went off?" Gus demanded to get back to the point. His voice was shaking. „If it was no bullet of yours …"

„I sense something." Shawn interrupted raising his hand to his temple. „I see a clock. A ticking clock. No, wait. It´s a bomb. The car was booby trapped."

„Somebody wanted to kill that man?" Gus asked.

„Probably." Shawn agreed, very aware of Lassiter´s shocked face. „Who else was supposte to be in that car? I also sense, that he wasn´t quiet the person he appeared to be."

„Who did he appeared to be?" Juliet asked confused, totally unaware of the fact that these informations were not really meant for her.

„I´m not sure." Shawn said. „I´m just sensing … deceive. I see sleeves, that are too short. The suit he wore wasn´t his. He was dressed up as someone else. To pretend. Maybe he was just a bait … for someone."

„For whom?" Juliet asked. This time she noticed the look Lassiter and Shawn exchanged. It was hard to overlook it. Her partner´s face had turned even paler than it had been before.

„I don´t know." Shawn finally answered her question. „The vision I get is very unclear."

Juliet looked back and forth between Lassiter and Shawn, trying to figure out what that strange look had been about. So did Gus. Neither of them found the answer in that short moment. At last Juliet shook her head and turned to her partner.

„Carlton. Did you see any …?" In this moment his cell phone started to ring and he literally jumped out of his skin. He spun around as soon as he had it in his hands and walked off without a word to take the call. Juliet looked after him with a puzzled face. She wasn´t the only one who was startled.

„What the hell is wrong with him?" Gus asked quietly.

„Who knows." Shawn replied. „Maybe the wrong medics."

„Shawn. What is going on?" Juliet demanded to know.

„I have no idea." he said and that was at least half of the truth. „But I´m determined to find out." He looked around and spotted the bag Lassiter had dropped when the car went off. After what he had heard him call after that guy, he had a pretty good idea what was inside of it. Quickly he picked it up and handed it over to Gus.

„Here, dude." he said. „Have an eye on that, will ya? It´s Lassie´s."

„Shawn." Gus objected but his friend didn´t bother to explain himself. He was already on his way to follow Lassiter down the street. Juliet hold him back for a second.

„Is something going on?" she wanted to know. Her eyes said: Tell me, I want to help.

„I certainly think so." he replied in a tone that it could by no means sound serious. „But don´t ask me what, ´cause I can´t answer it. So let me check it out and I will report back at you as soon as possible, okay?" With that he turned around and followed Lassiter, before Juliet or Gus had a chance to take in these words.

„Okay." Juliet just said slightly confused and let him walk away.

Shawn hurried to the corner where he had seen Lassiter the last time. He tried to walk as slowly as possible so he wouldn´t raise his friends suspicion any further. He fought the urge to run, telling himself that Lassie was still near so he wouldn´t need to run. Ten feet from the corner he lost that battle. His sprint came to a sudden stop though, when he found Lassiter right behind the corner, leaning against the wall. He had just finished his call, Shawn could tell because he just lowered his hand that hold the cell phone. The expression on the man´s face was worn out, his eyes seemed to be on some other place. It was hard to see him that way. Shawn even found himself shaken by that sight. Though he fought the feeling back and forced himself to speak up straight.

„So now tell me." he demanded. „What can I do?"

„You can´t help me, Spencer." Lassiter replied without looking at him. His voice was thin and flat, it almost broke. He pushed himself off the wall and was about to pass Shawn as if he wasn´t there. But of course Shawn couldn´t allow to be ignored that way. He jumped into Lassiter´s way to stop him.

„I´m the only person who actually can help you." he said to get the detective´s attention back. It worked. Carlton looked at him and Shawn could see the desperation in his eyes.

„They told me if I tell anyone …" he started but got cut off again. „They told you if you went to the police." Shawn corrected him. „I´m not the police. Technically I don´t exist for their radar. Whoever they are." He looked up into that usually so stern blue eyes and couldn´t stand it any longer. They were supposte to stare people down and not to plead. „Come on, Lassie." he almost begged. „Think about it. You can´t do that on your own. Let me help you."

„I can´t." Carlton replied. He suddenly remembered something. „Where is my bag?" he asked full of fear that he could have lost it.

„Don´t worry." Shawn said. „Gus has it."

This information didn´t seem to ease Lassiter´s mind. Quiet the contrary. He tried to pass Shawn again but he still didn´t let him. „I said, don´t worry." he repeated. „Gus never looks into other people´s bags. Old habit. Something about other people´s privacy. It´s save until you go and get it from him." He looked into Lassiter´s eyes, trying to look stern himself for a change. „Now will you or will you not tell me, what happened?" he asked him. When he still got no reaction to his words, he added: „Or do I have to tell Jules about it?"

Now Lassiter´s eyes flashed. There was a warning in them but mostly fear. Shawn didn´t want to threat him but the detective left him no choice. „I can´t let you do that on your own." he explained as serious as he could. „You would put your life and hers in danger with that."

„Don´t pretend that you care for me, Spencer." Lassiter said hard.

Shawn didn´t respond to that. Nothing he could have said, would change the situation, he knew that. How was he supposte to convince this old stubborn guy that he did care anyway? He´d probably not done his best over the years to prove that particular part in their relationship.

„So will you tell me or not?" he repeated. „It´s your choice, Lassie. You have ten seconds before I go back and tell Jules." He looked at his not existing watch counting the seconds. Lassiter stared at him one last time, then he just hadn´t the strength any more.

„I got the call this morning." he started to tell. „Two thirty to the very second. They told me they had Victoria, let me talk to her. They claimed ten thousand dollars to let her go."

„Ten thousand bucks!" Shawn cried. „God! Where did you got that much money from?"

„I lend it from the bank." Lassiter explained. „Raised a credit. You know, that´s what people get when they treat their money reliable. It wasn´t easy to obtain a credit on such short notice but it helps to have a gold shield."

„I see." Shawn replied thoughtfully.

„What you said before." Lassiter picked it up. „That the man was just a bait … Are you sure about that?"

Shawn nodded. „His suit was much too short for him and the car … I don´t think it was his car either. He stopped when he recognized it, but he almost overlooked and passed it. Somebody described to him which car he should take. The guy was probably … a hobo or something."

Lassiter wiped his hand over his forehead and then over his head. „Then this whole thing was just a trap for me." he murmured. „They didn´t sacrifice one of their own. That was just a test. For me."

„A test?" Shawn repeated. Then he understood. „What did they say?" he asked and pointed at the cell phone with a motion of his head.

„They still want their money." Lassiter said. „I get another chance. The last one." His voice broke and he had to swallow.

„How?" Shawn went on asking.

„He´ll call again and tell me." Lassiter explained, his voice still choked.

„Okay." Shawn had to think for a moment. He looked at the corner, behind which he knew Jules and Gus were still waiting. How to go on now? He urged himself to think. Come on, think.

„Look." he finally said. „The best is … we meet in my office. I tell Jules that you didn´t feel good and had to lay down. As soon as I can, I´ll follow."

Lassiter´s gaze was glassily, the best indication to tell Shawn that the man was at the end of his strength. He nodded. He might have nodded at everything Shawn had suggested in this moment. That alone sent a thrill down his spine. It was scary. More than that. It was serious.

Shawn had no idea how this happened, but he watched himself reaching out a hand for Lassiter and padding his back in a gesture of comfort. Then he left, almost flew that situation, before it could become even more awkward. At the corner he haltet once more, when he remembered something.

„Oh, and I´ll bring the bag, too." he called over his shoulder. The look in Lassiter´s face told him that he had already forgotten that detail again. „Don´t worry." he added. But of course he knew that it was useless to say that.

...

The small blue Echo bowed around the corner, heading down the streets towards the beach promenade.

„Now would you mind telling me, what this whole thing was about?" Gus demanded to know. „Why do we keep carrying around Lassiter´s bag and why was he dressed that way?"

„Dude. If you would shut it for a sec I would tell you." Shawn snapped. Gus looked at him but kept his mouth shut. Shawn exhaled. Then he said: „His ex-wife has been kidnapped."

Gus´s mouth dropped open at this.

„They wanted him to pay ten thousand bucks to let her go." Shawn went on. „The money is in the bag."

Gus´ head rushed aside to have a brief shocked look at the bag. „Oh, my god." he gasped. „Why doesn´t he …?"

„They said, if he went to the police, she´d be dead." Shawn answered his question.

„That´s what kidnappers always say." Gus pointed out quiet rightly.

„I know." was all Shawn knew to say.

Gus exhaled. „So what do we do?" he then asked.

„We try to help him. Keeping this under the radar."

Gus nodded. „Gosh, he must be freaked out."

„Sort of." Shawn agreed. „He threatened to kill me if something happened to her."

„He used to threaten to shoot you at least once a week." Gus pointed out.

„Yes, but this was different. This time he really meant it."

„Boy." Gus exhaled. Then he frowned. „But why should he want to kill you?" he wondered. „What do you have to do with it?"

„I … kinda was the reason why the exchange didn´t work." Shawn explained. Gus threw him a shocked look and he winced a little at it. „It seems that I scared away the guy they sent for him. But that was a setup anyway so …"

„A setup?"

Shawn explained to him what he had concluded earlier already. Gus exhaled in awe. „You know." he said. „We better solve that case. Otherwise …"

„I know." Shawn cut him off. He didn´t even wanted to think about it.

„Where is he now?" Gus asked.

„In our office." Shawn answered. After a short consideration he added: „I hope."


	3. Not Alone

**Not alone**

Gus got out of the car. Seeing the Psych office was still sending chills down his spine. After it had been rebuild, thanks to the insurance he always had made sure to pay regularly, it almost looked as if nothing had ever happened to it. It was amazing how a few months of work could erase terrible events. At least from the outside. Hadn´t it been for the fresh paint on the walls that lacked the usual dirt of the years on the corners and some of the spots he and Shawn had caused themselves, he hadn´t seen any difference. But he saw the difference. I just looked too neat to be real. It wasn´t the same office they had rented some years ago. And yet it was alike. Still, Gus had a hard time to see it, not to mention going into it.

The first time he had been back here, following Shawn who wanted to show him how great it had become, he had found himself unable to enter it. This office that had been his for years. He never had expected it to scare him. But something within himself had just refused to keep walking when he had tried to enter. He had needed time. If it had been any other building, he probably wouldn´t have even bothered. But this office was his and Shawn´s. This place had been a second home for him and he wanted it to be that way again. That was the reason why he had kept trying. Every day a little bit. And at last he had been able to enter it again.

He had stepped through the door, Shawn watching him even more tensed and excited than he had been, and then he had been standing inside. No explosion had blown him up and no fireball had chased after him. He had been able to stand there for a minute, then the sounds of the computer, the fridge, the coffee maker and even the sounds of the working wood had driven him out again.

Shawn hadn´t given up. He had lured him back inside. Again and again and finally Gus had found himself able to sit behind his desk again and to even do some of his work there. It had taken him almost two months but he had managed it. Now he could enter the psych office almost on his own. He only needed company and two or three deep breaths before he could go in. But he was on a good way.

Now he was anxious to see if Lassiter really had taken Shawn´s advise to come here. He slowed down when he approached the door though. Shawn didn´t notice and went in without waiting for him. Gus reached the door and stopped to take his usual three breaths.

Meanwhile Shawn had already rushed in, half expecting to find the office empty. But the head detective truly was there. He sat quietly in one of their armchairs, his cell phone in both hands, as if he was praying through it. When he heard Shawn enter, he looked up at him. His face was wasted. He also still wore the same clothings like before. A small detail Shawn had already forgotten over the situation they were in. When he was reminded on that certain fact by seeing it, he stopped in the movement. All his tries to pretend that there was nothing that disturbed him, were useless.

„That is …" he begann an explanation but gave it up, facing Lassiter´s tired eyes. Gus´ late entry saved him from an awkward explanation. Though his friend looked as awkward about Lassie´s appearance as he did.

„Ehm …" Gus started. „Shawn told me what happened. I´m very sorry, Lassiter and I assure you, that we´ll both do everything we can, to help you."

Lassiter just dropped his gaze again and stood up. „I probably never should have come here." he murmured to himself.

Shawn and Gus exchanged a silent glance. That was so absolutely not the Lassiter they both knew.

„What are you talking about?" Shawn asked.

„They said, no one else into this." Lassiter recalled using his cell phone to point at them. „If they find out that I´m here …"

„But they won´t." Shawn insisted. „Lassie. You have to start to trust us."

„Trust you?" Carlton replied doubtfully.

„You say you don´t trust us?" Shawn asked confrontative.

There was a moment of silence before Lassiter spoke up again. Again he used his cell to point at Shawn. „This is not a usual case, Spencer." he said. „You don´t work on this just because it´s fun for you. This is not a game." At his last words he was standing right in front of him and though he hadn´t yelled or anything, it was pretty obvious how much he meant it.

„I know." Shawn assured him never leaving the detective´s eyes. „Believe me, I know."

Carlton´s angry eyes calmed down a little at this.

„We are here to help." Gus reminded again. Usually he wouldn´t think that it was necessary to repeat that fact, but right now he felt that it was. Lassiter was so distracted, that he probably would need a lot of repeatings before this case was solved.

„Did anything happen already?" Shawn asked with a gesture at the cell in Lassiter´s hand.

„No." the detective said grimly. „I don´t know why he didn´t call already. It´s been already thirty minutes. Maybe he knows that I´m here after all."

„You should stop that, Lassie." Shawn suggested and immediately Lassiter was at him again, flashing with anger. But before he could yell at him, his cell phone started to ring and he flipped it open.

„Yes!" he said. He listened. Shawn and Gus couldn´t do anything but watch. Lassiter´s face changed from fear to thoughtful to tired again. The whole process took somewhat about ten seconds. Then he just lowered his arm and closed the phone. When his legs became rubbery he sat down at the edge of the desk.

„What is it?" Gus asked.

„I´m supposte to bring the money up into the hills." Lassiter answered toneless, not looking at him or Shawn. „At noon. To a place called Lone-Larch. It´s a wide area, they say. No place to hide anyone. Just me and him … and Victoria."

Shawn and Gus exchanged a glance. Or not, they both added in silence but none of them said it out loud. It was pretty obvious that this could be a trap, and under any other circumstances Lassiter might have thought so too. But in this case he didn´t even consider it. Suddenly he jumped up and searched the room for his bag. When he spotted it in Gus´ hand, he grabbed it.

„I´ll drive out there right away." he said and was already on his way to the door.

„Wow!" Shawn cried and ran after him to block his way. „Wait a second. You can´t go now."

„Spencer, either you move now or I´ll pull my gun." Carlton hissed.

„You know what?" Shawn replied. „I´m sick of these threats. If you want to shoot me for trying to help you, go ahead. But I´m not stepping aside until you hear me out."

„Shawn." Gus chipped in a little nervous, but neither Shawn nor Lassiter payed attention to him. They were still busy trying to stare each other down. Surprisingly Shawn stood his ground pretty good.

„There is no need to hurry." Shawn pointed out. „They said, you shell be there at noon. It´s only …"

„Half past nine." Gus helped him out.

„Half past nine." Shawn finished his sentence. „To get up there you´ll only need …"

„Eighty minutes tops." Gus guessed.

„Eighty minutes tops." Shawn said. „That means we still have …" he looked at Gus briefly but then just went on: „ … more than enough time to talk about what we will do, just in case this exchange shouldn´t work out the way we hope. What do you say, Lassie? Is that too much to ask? That we take a moment to actually think about what we should do next?" He cocked his head, surprised about what he just said himself. „Dude, I don´t believe that I am the one who insists on common sense." he said. Gus couldn´t do anything else but shrug in agreement.

Lassiter dropped his shoulders and turned halfway back to the office. „You´re right, Spencer." he admitted. „I´m not acting rational."

„It´s all right, Lassie." Shawn replied carefully. „Just calm down and have a seat. We can talk about it."

„What is there to talk about?" Lassiter asked and threw the bag to the ground. „I can´t do anything but do what they want."

„What is about that rule that we don´t negotiate with kidnappers?" Gus asked.

„Don´t try to be a smart-ass on me." Lassiter warned.

Gus threw Shawn a helpless look and he answered it with a calm-down-gesture of his hand.

„All right, Spencer." Lassiter said. „Go ahead. I´m ready. I listen. What´s your plan?"

„My plan is, we´ll do exactly the opposite of what the kidnappers want."

„No way."

„You have to let me finish, Lassie. I´m not talking about you. You´ll go ahead and do what they said as if nothing had changed. But Gus and I, we will try to figure out the kidnappers whereabouts."

Carlton dropped his gaze in astonished agreement and then nodded thoughtfully.

„Okay." Shawn went on. „First, I want you to think. When they called you the first time. Did you hear anything, that could tell us, where they were?"

Lassiter stared at him in disbelieve. „That´s all?" he asked. „That is all the great psychic detective is offering me to help? What do you think I did after I got the call?" Before Shawn could shrug save answer, he went on: „I of course checked the recordings to see if I could hear anything. But there was nothing."

„You have recordings of the calls that come to your home?" Gus asked confused.

„They called me on my cell phone." Lassiter corrected. „But yes. You never know what sick bastards call you to threat you. I have a special account in my system, where I store the recordings."

„You had any luck with those … recordings?" Shawn wanted to know after he took that info in.

„I was lucky that I could hear their voices." Lassiter said. „There was a heavy noise in the line. They probably did this on purpose, so I wouldn´t get any background sounds. No, I can´t do anything but do what they want … and trying to get those bastards in the process."

„What … you mean arrest them?" Shawn asked confused. Lassiter just looked at him without saying a word in response.

Shawn shook his head with a nervous chuckle. „Lassie, you don´t know how many they are." he tried to be reasonable. „They could be heavy armed. Or worse. Gus, tell him that he´s crazy."

„I´d rather not." Gus replied, facing Lassiter´s grim face.

„You hear it." Shawn went on talking to Lassiter without even noticing that Gus hadn´t given him the support he´d expected. Lassiter frowned for a moment.

„Listen, Lassie." Shawn said and cleared his throat. Lassiter looked at him, waiting for him to go on but Shawn hesitated. It was not easy to speak out what he was about to suggest next. But he had to say it. So he forced himself to open his mouth and said: „You might consider to report that incident to chief Vick after all."

Lassiter´s face went hard and dangerous again. It spoke a loud and clear warning for Shawn not to go on if he wanted to stay unharmed. But Shawn ignored it anyway. He said: „You are in this business long enough. You´ve seen it often enough to know what happens in kidnapping cases when the police is kept out. Do you really want to risk that?"

„The police isn´t completely out of it." Lassiter argued.

„You can´t do that on your own." Shawn cried frustrated about that stubbornness. „Gus."

„He´s right." Gus finally agreed.

„Let us at least get Jules on board with us." Shawn suggested. „She could help us track you and …"

„No." Lassiter interrupted sternly.

Shawn just stared at him. „I don´t get it." he cried in complete disbelieve. „How can you be so goddamn stubborn?"

„I don´t know." Carlton replied. „Maybe because it´s my wife we´re talking about?"

„Your ex-wife." Shawn corrected automatically. He´d rather kept his mouth shut on this, because a second after he said this, Lassiter was up and at him. He grabbed his collar and pushed him into the wall so fast that Shawn wondered how he´d gotten there in the first place. For the first two seconds he lost all the air from his lungs.

„Don´t you dare to correct me with my terms, Spencer." Carlton hissed at him and pushed him even harder against the wall.

„Okay." Shawn croaked. „Okay, I got it. She´s your wife. Can I keep breathing now?"

After one more push to remind him what had happened, Lassiter let go of him. Shawn rubbed his throat and chest, while Gus looked back and forth between him and Lassiter, not sure what to do or to say.

„All right then." Shawn said. „No Jules. But we can do something anyway." He looked at Lassiter, waiting for his response before going on. The head detective gave him a face.

„What?" he asked not really expecting something helpful.

„The same plan as before." Shawn explained. „We do our thing while you keep going as they want. You go to that exchange as if nothing had changed. Fool them. Make them feel save. And let me try to find her." When he saw Lassiter hesitating, he repeated with even more confidence: „We´ll find her. You know what I can do."

For a moment Lassiter´s familiar reaction, a doubtful glance that said `Oh please´ was visible on the detective´s face. But this time Shawn didn´t mirror it, as he would have done usually and like he already felt it tickle again behind his forehead that wanted him to go on with his usual reactions to Lassie´s. Old habits are hard to overcome. Especially when your name is Shawn Spencer, the infinite Joker. But somehow he managed it to hold it back. Instead of joking around he looked serious at Lassie. He had to convince the man, not to push him.

„All right." Lassiter finally said, but there was still a small ounce of hesitation behind his words. „But if you …"

„We won´t." Shawn assured him.

Lassiter studied his face almost surprised. Then he nodded in agreement. „All right." he repeated. „You do whatever it is you do. But you better do it right. There is no room for mistakes and four outrageous shots in the dark before you finally hit the mark with the fifth try. Not in this case."

„I know." Shawn said absolutely serious. It was as if he was surprised that Lassiter could even think of the possibility that he wouldn´t understand how serious that was. „Believe me, Lassie. I know."

Lassiter dropped his eyes and nodded.

„All right." Shawn said but at this point his ideas went thin on how to go on. He tried to think. Hard and most of all fast. There had to be something. No clue, no time and no police. But there had to be something. Something he overlooked so far. And then he just knew it.

„When do you go?" he asked Lassiter.

„Why, as soon as we´re done." Lassiter answered confused.

„Good. I´m just asking you to wait another … hm … twenty minutes. You should eat something before you go. It´s not good to do something like that on an empty stomach. I could need a snack now. How about you, Gus?"

„Shawn."

„Sweet. I´d say tacos then. I take mine with much vegetables and less sauce. You of course with lots of meat, Gus, you don´t need to remind me. How about you, Lassie?"

„Spencer, I don´t care about a snack at all. My wife is hold hostage."

„And that´s exactly the reason why you should collect and save your strength, Lassie. You´ll need it up there."

„You don´t know what´ll happen." Gus agreed with Shawn´s argumentations.

Reluctantly Lassiter started to think about it. He had to admit that there was something about that argument. He hadn´t had any breakfast after all. After receiving the call, he had thought of anything but eating. Finally he nodded.

„All right, but hurry. There is no time to lose. I also don´t know the traffic conditions on the way to the meeting point."

„We could check them out while he is getting the food." Gus suggested with a gesture at the computer.

„Sweet." Shawn cheered. „You do that. I´m back in five minutes. Ten if there is a long line."

With that he was out of the door. Gus tapped Lassiter at the arm and went over to the computer. The detective followed him after he threw a last musing look at the door. Then he put his attention at the traffic reports, Gus started to bring up.

Outside Shawn had just rounded the corner. With a last checking glance over his shoulder to make sure the two of them couldn´t hear him anymore, he took out his cell phone and flipped it open. He kept walking. They expected three tacos in less than ten minutes after all and he intended to bring them. Though he had never felt so tensed while going to get some food. Come on, he begged in silence. Answer the phone. After a few rings he got his answer.

„Dad." he said. „Hey. I need your help with something."


	4. The Reasonable Thing

**The reasonable thing**

„Shawn, you´ve got to go to the police with that." Henry said matter of factly.

„Are you kidden me?" Shawn replied. „He doesn´t want the police on it. I called you so I wouldn´t have to go to the police."

„You called me because of my experience with kidnapping cases." Henry corrected him. „And as someone that worked on more than just a few of these cases, I tell you that you don´t have any choice than to go to the police if you want the victim back alive. In 99 per cent of all the cases the police was kept out the victim ended up dead. Is Lassiter out of his mind?"

„Well, it´s about his wife, dad. Possible that he takes it a little more personal this time." Shawn massaged his throat saying that.

„Yeah, whatever." was all Henry said about that. „He should know better. And if he isn´t gonna accept that then you have to do it for him."

„What, you mean … go to the police behind his back?"

„Since when do you have a problem with doing something behind Lassiter´s back?" Henry barked.

„He saved my life by catching two bullets for me." Shawn recalled. „We literally looked into the abyss together. I think saving your son´s life counts for something."

„He didn´t save my house from being blown up." Henry argued.

Shawn rolled his eyes and sighed. The explosion a certain Senor Deras had caused four months ago, had done a pretty good job on his dad´s house but so had the explosion in his own office. In neither of them Henry had been involved. Shawn had been and Gus (he had almost died through it) and so had Lassiter. And still Henry was able to complain about it and change it into something he could hold against someone. He probably was just pissed that it had taken less time to rebuild the Psych office than it needed to rebuild a whole house. What was the man complaining about? The insurance had covered it all. He didn´t even had to go to a hotel. Shawn had had an appartement big enough for both of them – at least he had thought so, three months ago. He had had an appartement big enough for two people. And then his dad had moved in. After a week, the very day his office had been ready, Shawn had packed his futon and temporary moved into his office. It was just no living with this man. Therefor he´d even accepted that he probably wouldn´t recognize his own appartement when he went back. Until then Henry might have cleaned it up and maybe even refurnitured (the man was able to do even that) But that was something Shawn could stand. What he couldn´t stand was sharing the same place with his father for longer than an afternoons visit.

„If you don´t tell the police, I will." Henry said now. „Because somebody has to …"

„All right." Shawn almost shouted. „I do it. I´ll do it. Hold on a second." He hold his cell to his chest and took a deep breath. Then he managed it to give his orders to the taco-card guy. After that he took the phone back to his ear.

„Where is he now?" Henry wanted to know.

„Still at my office. But he won´t stay much longer. So will you do what I asked you to?"

„Of course I will." Henry said as if it was the most stupid question one could ask. „I don´t have much of a choice, have I? But you do as I asked too."

„I will." Shawn promised and tried desperately not to yell into the phone. After ten seconds of gritted teeth he was able to go on. „You´re probably right." he admitted reluctantly.

„This is not a usual kidnapper, Shawn." Henry lectured him. „He blew up a guy and I don´t think that he just did it because the exchange went wrong. He´d done that anyway."

„You mean, it wasn´t about the money?"

„You can bet your ass it wasn´t about the money. Unless this guy has no sense for math. 10 000 bucks is a joke for a kidnapper like that. Also, why is he kidnapping a cop´s wife? Lassiter isn´t that wealthy. It doesn´t make any sense. Unless …"

„Unless it´s something personal." Shawn finished the sentence.

„That´s what I guess. But I have no idea what it could be about otherwise." There was a brief silence. Then Henry said: „I get in my truck now. I´ll need … ten minutes tops."

„Okay."

„Call me on my cell phone." with that he hung up. Shawn looked at his own cell and shook his head. Of course he would call him on his cell phone. What else did he think he would do?

He took the tacos and went back to his office. He felt exhausted after this phone call. Though he managed it to smile when he came back into the office. He had to look confident or Lassie would notice that he was up to something. And if he wouldn´t, Gus would and maybe blow it by asking questions.

„Finally." Lassiter growled. „What took you so long?"

„Sorry. Many people seem to discover tacos lately." Shawn said. „Here you are. Oh, no wait. This is Gus´. You probably don´t want one with …"

„I don´t care." Lassiter snarled and took one of the three tacos from him completely randomly. He unpacked it and began to eat.

„You shouldn´t gobble that fast, Lassie." Shawn advised. „That´s not good for the stomach."

Lassiter didn´t listen. He was running around while eating, checking the trafic report again. After three minutes he was done with his meal and threw the paper on the already overfull wastebasket.

„Ahh, okay." Shawn stepped in his way when he tried to leave through the door. „Let´s check our watches." Lassiter truly looked on his wrist until he noticed that Shawn didn´t wear a watch. The fake psychic immediately looked at the clock that hung on the wall to make up for that. „It´s a quarter to eleven now." he said. „You´ll need an hour to get up there if everything goes right. Means you´ll be there around twelve. You´ll be in time."

„Copie. Anything else?" Carlton asked impatient.

„Ehm, let me think about it. No."

„Then I´ll go now." he said and shoved himself through the space between Shawn and the door.

„We´ll take care of everything else." Shawn cried after him.

Lassiter turned around once more and gave him a grim nod. Then he walked around the corner to his car that was parked at the curbside. Shawn and Gus followed him and watched him taking the key in and starting the motor. Then he drove away. The Crown Vick had just vanished around the corner, when a yellow pick up passed by, following him. When Gus saw who was sitting behind the wheel, he raised both eyebrows and turned to Shawn.

„So that´s what you had in mind." he said. „I should have known."

„He will follow him." Shawn explained exhaling in relief that his dad had made it in time. „If something should go wrong up there, he has some backup."

„And what do we do now?" Gus wanted to know.

Shawn dropped his gaze, finally looking away from the street where Lassiter and his dad had just vanished. „We go to the police." he said and shocked his friend even more with that.

...

It was a serious role reverse. It surely was. Carlton Lassiter going out on his own, breaking all the rules to do what was necessary and he, Shawn Spencer, the reckless guy of all time, trying to do the reasonable thing. What had happened? Most of all, how was it possible that he didn´t feel that wrong about getting the police in on this? It almost felt right to do it. He was almost grateful that his dad had made him do so. Considering the alternative, it was the only possible move. Because so far they had nothing at all to start an investigation. They would need help. Because if they didn´t do anything very soon, Lassie´s ex would not just be his ex but also go likewise. And that was not a nice scenario to imagine.

How did it happen that he acted that way, Shawn wondered. He wanted to solve this case but he wanted to do it right. It was almost the thing a grown up person would do. God, did this mean that he … No. Impossible. Just outrageous. This wasn´t different than any other occasions when he had asked someone for help. He wasn´t a megalomaniac that thought that he would never need anyone´s help with something. He wasn´t Lassie.

But that was the point wasn´t it? It seemed as if Lassie was turning into someone else in this case and so did he. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not. Maybe he, Shawn, just felt that it was in his responsibility to take over the detective´s part, now that Lassie had refused to do so. God, he just hoped that it wouldn´t stick. Letting Lassie rub off on him would be too much to stand. But he owed it to him to do everything he could. At least that much. Even if it meant to get lassiterized for a while (of course he would do everything he could to avoid that though). What he had told Henry on the phone was true. Lassiter had saved his life and the other way around. Things like that didn´t happen without leaving their marks behind.

Gus was at the department´s front door first and opened it. Together they entered the police station, heading straight for the desk of a certain junior detective named Juliet O´Hara.

„Jules." Shawn greeted her, his voice undisguised out of breath.

„What is it, Shawn?" she asked looking up from her paperwork with asking eyes. When she saw the expression on his and Gus´ faces, she was alarmed.

„We have a problem." Shawn said. „Is the chief available?"

Without waiting for her answer he looked at the chief´s office and when he found her sitting at her desk, he immediately went over to it. Gus accompanied him and Juliet, startled over that much hurry, followed them. Chief Vick had just finished a phone call when Shawn appeared before her desk.

„What can I do for you, Mr. Spencer?" she asked in a slightly ironic tone.

„Chief, I want to report a kidnapping." Shawn said.

Karen Vick´s glance changed from a mocking smile to seriously concerned. „Who´s been kidnapped?" she asked.

„Victoria Parker Lassiter." Shawn said.

„Carlton´s ex-wife?" Juliet cried.

„When?" chief Vick wanted to know.

„As far as I know, somewhat around yesterday." Shawn said. „But it also could have happened earlier. If they needed more time to hide and to prepare."

„Slow down, Mr. Spencer." the chief demanded. „Prepare for what?"

„Calling and tell their demands."

„He had a psychic vision about Lassiter talking to the kidnapper on the phone." Gus chipped in.

„Right." Shawn agreed after a few seconds. He was so startled that it hadn´t even occurred to him to pretend his information would come from a vision. He had been so distracted with his thoughts on how this case had infected him, that he had completely forgotten about it.

„I got this vibes while talking to Lassie after this explosion." he explained. „I sensed that he tried to hide something but I couldn´t figure out what. Until I saw that conversation. He´s forced to keep the police out. Otherwise his wife dies. I called my dad the moment I knew what was going on. I … I saw where Lassie was going to drive and sent him after him."

„Where is he?" chief Vick wanted to know, already reaching out for her phone.

Shawn raised his hand to his temple. „The meeting point is supposte to be in the hills. On a field. I see a tree. A Larch."

„Lone-Larch." Gus said.

„I send some units up there." chief Vick decided.

„That would be a mistake." Shawn cried. „When the kidnapper notices that police is on the way, he´ll back off."

„And what do you suggest we do?" Karen asked, putting the phone back on the cradle.

„We need to find where they hide her." Shawn said.

„So you don´t think that she´s at the meeting point." Juliet assumed.

„No. I think they don´t intent to hand her over at all. Not that easy at least."

„How do you plan to find her then?" the chief wanted to know.

„Lassie records every call that comes in to him." Shawn explained. „I see an account. Somewhere in the intranet of the department. We need to get those recordings and do that stuff with them … what the guys do when they listen to recordings. To hear stuff out."

„Analysing it?"

„Yes. Maybe we hear something on it, Lassie couldn´t hear. Maybe I get a vision while listening to it. Maybe …"

„All right." chief Vick agreed. „I grant access to detective Lassiter´s account to get those recordings. O´Hara, you do that. Get those recordings out. I´ll order an analyst here."

„On it." Juliet said and was out of the door, closely followed by Shawn and Gus. Chief Vick took the phone again. After she´d made the call to get an analyst she put the phone down again. She was about to take her hand of it but then halted. After a moment of consideration she took it back up and dialed another number.

...

The street was deserted. The traffic had started to fade out soon after they had left the last buildings behind. From time to time a car would come from the other side and pass heading for Santa Barbara. But even that had stopped by now. It was as if leaving the real world and entering some sort of a Twilight Zone. It really felt as if there was no soul out here but him and the man in the car before him.

Henry knew that Lassiter was still there. He kept a save distance, even allowed that the Crown Vick drove farther than the nearest bend, out of his sight. He still knew that he could catch up with him if he would want to. After thirty years of being a cop and a great deal of observations that included followings like this one, he knew when the target was still there or if he was in danger of losing it. Besides, Shawn had told him the meeting point was the Lone Larch and there were only two ways to reach this place and it wouldn´t make much sense if Lassiter would leave the one he was on right now.

Slowly the woods started to prune. The place was close now. As far as Henry remembered it, it was like a plateau at the top of one of the central hills. A wide field surrounded by nothing but air until the woods took over again. There was nothing up there, save some stones and dry grass. It was like a desert. The only real plant there was this famous single larch, that gave the place its name and that stood right in the middle of it. It was supposte to be over a hundred years old. A perfect place for a secret meeting … or to get rid of a body, Henry thought gloomy.

Suddenly he felt worried. If it was true what he´d told Shawn, that these guys might not be interested in the money, Lassiter was about to bring them, then this meeting might have another reason. A trap maybe. But for what purpose? If they had wanted to kill Lassiter, they could have placed a sniper in the city where the first exchange had been set. But instead they had dressed a hobo as a business man, armed him and blew him up with a car bomb. What kidnapper did something like that? It didn´t make any sense. No, sir. Those people were not interested in money. They wanted something else. But what?

Lassiter was a cop. The head detective of the Santa Barbara Police Department. He had contacts and access to things and information about a lot of stuff. Maybe someone wanted him to do something for him. But if that was so, why the charade with the money? Why not forcing him to do those things from the beginning?

No, that made no sense either. Nothing of that made any sense. Were they just some insane murderers who enjoyed killing people after playing with them? Henry had heard about cases like that. There were not many but it definitely happened. Had Lassiter been that unlucky to be picked by one of those?

No, Henry made himself stop. Stop thinking like a paranoid idiot. Whatever this whole thing might be about, they would figure it out. They would find out who was behind all this and they would track him down. Just like good cops did. He just hoped that the woman would still be alive then. Lassiter and his ex-wife were separated for several years now. Henry´s divorce had been much longer ago but he had no idea what he would do if Madeleine would be kidnapped. The experience with the Yang case had been quiet enough for him to know how it felt like to see the woman he once loved in mortal danger. If anything should have happened to her back then … he didn´t know what he would have done. Lassiter wasn´t his favourite person in the world but he didn´t want him to experience the worst case scenario either. No one should.

Shawn wasn´t the only one who owed Lassiter. He had saved the life of his son. More than just once. Henry was well aware of that. He really owed him a great deal for that. On a certain point in his life, Henry had always known that his influence on Shawn and the way he lived his life – and put it in danger in the process – had been fading. On a certain point a parent just couldn´t do the things anymore they did to stop their children from possibly killing themselves. They could do that as long as they were still kids. But kids grew up and went away. They naturally started to reject the efforts of their parents to protect them from harm.

Henry had known that he couldn´t be there all the time to get Shawn out of the worst. Lassiter had been there instead. He had pulled his gun in the right moment and arrested the bad guys that had been about to harm this reckless overgrown boy. He had done what Henry hadn´t been able to do. Because he had been there and he still had had the authority to do those things. Henry was not jealous because of this. He had retired for a reason. But sometimes he had wished to still have this kind of authority. Maybe that had been one of the reasons why he had accepted Karen´s offer to rejoin the force. To protect him again. Sometimes it even felt as if he had the same kind of authority again, he had had when he was a detective. But he had not. Lassiter had it. And he did a good job of it. Henry appreciated that. The least he could do to pay him back, that he had kept his boy from getting himself killed all these years, was to help him to get his wife back. Unharmed and alive.

His cell phone rang. He flipped it open and answered.

„Shawn?" he asked.

„Henry it´s me." the voice of the chief of police said.

„Karen."

„Shawn told me what is going on." she informed him. „Where are you now?"

„I´m approaching the Lone Larch Plateau." Henry reported already seeing the last bend that led to the open field. There was a big rock, almost a wall right where the street ended. Just like he remembered it. „Hold on a second." he said and pulled over to stop his truck at the curbside right behind that rock. He turned off the motor and got out.

„What is it, Henry?" Karen asked a little worried.

„I just got out of the car." he explained. „I will climb up the rock at the edge of the field. That way I´ll be able to see what´s going on without getting detected myself."

„All right." Karen agreed and stood up from her desk. „Hold the line."

„I will." Henry promised.

He put the phone in his pocket without turning it off. It was interesting how easy it was to fall back into those old structures. He out here and Karen on the line, waiting for his report. Something he hadn´t expected to experience again so shortly after she had put him on suspension. But obviously the situation had put everything else on hold for a while. His own charges were less important now and so they would treat it. Now it wasn´t about him and what he had done, it was about Lassiter. Henry started to climb.

In the station Karen Vick went to the door of her office. „They are at the place now." she informed O´Hara and the others. The three of them looked up at her. There was a tension in their eyes that she had barely seen, especially in Shawn Spencer´s. The usual smirk was not on his face now. They were all worried about Carlton.

She hurried back to her desk to not to miss anything that Henry would have to tell. O´Hara, Spencer and Guster strolled over to her door, their movements slow and careful as if they were afraid of intruding. She had just picked up the receiver again, when they reached the door and peeked in.

„We got the recordings." O´Hara informed her, just because she felt that she should say something. „The analyst is on his way."

Karen nodded still listening for Henry to talk to her again. Eventually she realized what she was doing, took the receiver down and put the phone on speaker. It was tensing enough even without her being the only one who knew what was going on up there. Up until now they only heard the sounds of Henry climbing up the rock.

It wasn´t the easiest thing to do. The rock was ascending steeply and Henry was not a good climber. But somehow he managed it to get up in a steady speed. Still he felt that he was too slow. What if whatever was supposte to happen on this field, already happened while he tried to get up to his viewing point? He cursed and forced himself to climb faster. The top was just five feet or so ahead.

Finally he was there. In the distance he could see the lone larch. Lassiter´s car was parked in front of it but it was too far for him to see anything else.

„Karen." he said taking his cell phone out again. „I´m there. I can see it now. Wait a sec." Holding the cell phone between his shoulder and his ear he fumbled to get his binoculars out of his pocket.

„What do you see, Henry?" Karen wanted to know. „Can you make out the kidnappers? Is the hostage there?"

„Just a sec." Henry repeated adjusting the binoculars. He was about to raise it to his eyes but in this moment it had already happened. The explosion was far away but in the silence of this place and with the wind carrying the sound, it seemed so loud as if he was just a few feet away from it.

„Henry, what happened?" Karen Vick cried on the other end. Everybody in the room with her had tensed at the cruel sound they had heard. Henry´s next words didn´t help them either.

„Oh, my god." he gasped in shock.


	5. You ll Never Find Me

**You´ll never find me**

There it was. Finally. If it hadn´t been for his watch, that told him it had been only sixty-five minutes, Carlton would have guessed that he was driving for several hours now. It had felt like a lifetime to get up here. The urge to accelerate and having to fight it back had almost driven him crazy. But somehow he had managed it to get up here without breaking traffic laws and risking to get stopped for it. That kind of delay he just couldn´t afford. Now he drove his car around the bend, passing the big rock and leaving the road behind.

The scene before his eyes changed from a country road to a wide field with no direction at all, save for one single tree that stood ahead. That must be it. There they had to be. Victoria and her kidnappers. He felt his heart starting to pound against his ribs. There was something in his throat that made him choke instead of simply breathing. Please let her be all right, he begged. Please, dear god.

Slowly he crossed the space between the rock and the tree. The closer he came he could make out a figure that was standing somewhat ten feet from the tree. Where were the others? Where was Victoria? Panic started to rise inside of Carlton´s chest. What was going on here? Did he hide her behind the tree, so he wouldn´t see her at once when he arrived? In this moment, all his hopes were clinging to this unlikely possibility. This was an exchange. The kidnapper was supposte to bring the hostage with him for an exchange. So the deduction had to be, that she was close. She just had to be.

He drove until he reached the tree. The whole time, the figure that was waiting for him didn´t move and slowly Carlton started to suspect that there was something wrong about this whole setup. The man seemed familiar to him but he couldn´t say why … until he was close enough to see his face.

With the recognition came the shock. And with the shock came panic again. As soon as he was at the tree he hit the brakes and jumped out. He was halfway at him, when Irving shouted at him: „Stay away from me, Carlton!"

Now that he was so close to him, Carlton could see the chains that went around Irving´s waist and down to the hook that was fixed at the ground. His former father in law was also wearing a thick black jacket that showed suspicious bumps beneath the cloth.

„What happened to you, Irving?" Carlton asked, trying to decide if he should go to him or not. „What´s under that jacket?"

Irving swallowed. „A bomb." he said.

„Is he still near?" Carlton wanted to know, his eyes searching the place.

„No." Irving said, close to tears. „They booby trapped me to get to you. So don´t come any closer."

„Where is Victoria?" Carlton asked. „Were you with her when they …?"

„No." Irving answered. „They already had her when they brought me in. She was all right then as far as I could see. But they didn´t let me talk to her."

„Where?"

„I don´t know where she is." Irving choked. „They made me wear a blindfold. And they brought her somewhere else after a while."

Slowly Carlton started to move closer to him.

„I said stay away!" Irving cried. Carlton raised his hands to calm him down and finished his way to him. Carefully he opened the jacket to have a look at the bomb. It was a belt with several packages of explosives, the way suicide bombers used to wear them.

„What´s the trigger?" he asked.

„I don´t know." Irving whispered with a hoarse voice.

Carlton cursed and started to examine the rest of the arrangement. The chains were fixed at the belt. No chance of getting them off without blowing Irving up. The hooks had been hammered into the ground with great force. Somebody had wanted to make sure, that Irving wouldn´t get away.

„He told me to give you a message from him." Irving said with a shaking voice. Carlton looked up from his examining.

„Who?" he wanted to know. „Who is he?"

„I dunno who he is." Irving whined. „But he knows you. He said, I should tell you …"

„What?" Carlton urged him.

„That he won´t stop." Irving said. „And that you would suffer the way he suffered. That you´d never stop him no matter what you do. And you´d never find him."

„Where is he?" Carlton asked.

„I dunno." Irving whined, tears rolling down his cheeks. „Carlton. You have to save my Tory. Please promise me that you´ll save her."

Carlton stared at his father in law, so much taken aback by this outburst that he almost found himself unable to speak. This old grumbler, one of the meanest persons one could think of, was crying the most bitter tears now. It was a shocking thing to see someone like him breaking down that way in the face of death. He almost couldn´t stand it.

„I will." he managed to bring out. „But you may accompany me with that." he went on and searched the explosive belt for a weak point. „I just need to find out how …"

Suddenly a sound came to life at the belt. A cracking sound, so loud and so suddenly that Carlton and Irving jumped at it. But it wasn´t the belt going off. It was a radio that was fixed between the explosives.

„Well, I think now you chatted long enough, detective." said a male voice over the static. „Say goodbye to your father in law."

Carlton looked at Irving in shock and realisation. The eyes of the old man were pleading. He knew that there was no chance. And he was afraid. He didn´t want to die.

„I´m so sorry." Carlton said.

„Promise me to save my Tory." Irving repeated his plead.

Carlton opened his mouth to answer something but there was no sound coming out. His voice was just paralyzed. Irving was now crying really hard.

„Save her, Carlton." he begged.

„I´m sorry." was all Carlton was able to bring out.

Something at the belt started to beep. After one last look at his father in law, he spun around and just ran. The blast of the explosion pushed him up into the air and threw him forward. He landed on his side and then he rolled. He had no idea how long he was rolling through the dirt of the field but when he finally came to a stop, his head was spinning and he breathed the hot air of burning gras. He felt the heat on his face. When he opened his eyes he could see the place where Irving had been. The grass was burning but the flames were already dying again. The most cruel thing was what was lying all around the place now. Carlton closed his eyes again, fighting the tears of desperation that came up in him.

...

„Henry, what happened?" Karen cried.

„Oh, my god." Henry gasped. He finally had adjusted his binoculars and saw the mess that was spread all over the place where Lassiter had been a second ago. For a moment he thought he was looking at the remains of Lassiter but then he spotted him. He was lying on the ground in one piece.

„Karen, call an ambulance up here." Henry barked and was already on his way down from the rock. He barely climbed. It was more a slide down over the rocks. The last five feet he fell. He landed on his feet but his ankle failed him and he hit the ground. He grunted.

„Dad?" Shawn´s voice asked worried. „Dad, can you hear me?"

„I´m all right, Shawn." Henry groaned working himself to his feet again and into his truck.

„What´s going on there?" Shawn wanted to know.

„I don´t know." Henry answered honestly. „I saw an explosion. Lassiter lay on the ground. That´s all I know. Send the ambulance. Hurry."

„The helicopter is on the way." Karen told him. „Just hang on."

Henry turned the keys and cursed when the motor didn´t come up at once. He tried again and this time it started. His foot smashed the accelerator and the truck shot around the rock and out to the field. Leaving a cloud of dirt behind, he raced over to the larch. As far as he could see it, Lassiter´s car hadn´t been effected by the explosion. But the detective himself was still lying on the ground, not moving. The next thing Henry saw was the body parts and the blood.

„Oh, god." he gasped again.

„What?" Juliet O´Hara´s voice cried out of the cell phone in his hand. „What is it? Is Carlton all right?"

Henry stopped the car and jumped out. „Hold on." he cried into his phone and then put it in his pocket to have both hands free. When he reached Lassiter, he found him lying on his side but conscious. The man was staring at the remains of what had been a person once. Henry lay a hand on his shoulder and shook it.

„Lassiter." he addressed him and when he got no response he forced him around so he had to look at him. When Lassiter´s eyes met his, a sudden recognition came up in them. And with that confusion.

„What are you doing here?" he demanded to know.

„What does it look like?" Henry replied. „Are you hurt?"

Instead of answering his question, Lassiter shook off his hand and struggled himself up to his feet.

„Why are you here?" he barked at him while fighting for his balance.

„Shawn told me what was going on." Henry explained and tried to give the detective a hand so he wouldn´t fall again. But Lassiter denied it. He skipped back from him, shaking his head in denial.

„You had no right to come here." he said. „What if they only killed him, because they saw you?"

Henry threw a brief look at the body parts. „Who was it?" he asked.

A wave of grief rushed over Lassiter´s face. „Irving Parker." he said.

In the station, Karen Vick closed her eyes at this. O´Hara raised her hand to her mouth and even Shawn and Gus lost some of the color in their faces. Lassiter´s voice out of the speaker on Vick´s phone was the only sound that filled the room.

„If they killed Victoria´s father because of you, I will …"

„How could they´ve killed him because of me?" Henry barked back at him. „The bomb was already on him before any of us even came here."

The anger in Lassiter´s eyes decreased rapidly and changed into weakness. The man was close to fainting, Henry realized. His face was dirty and there was a big abrasion on his right cheekbone, where he had scratched over the ground. His eyelids dropped halfway shut and he begann to tremble. Henry jumped over to him and grabbed his shoulders.

„You need to sit down." he said already manoeuvring him to the ground. „The ambulance is on the way. Just keep it quiet. That´s good."

In Karen Vick´s office the four listeners exchanged worried glances with each other.

„Karen." Henry said.

„I´m here, Henry." she answered, trying to keep her voice steady.

„I think he is all right. At least on the outside. He might have a concussion but I´m not sure. The paramedics will have to tell us."

„Good." Karen said. She had to swallow before she went on. „I send a CSI team up to you … to investigate the crime scene. And to collect the body."

„In this case I´d say, collect is the correct phrase." Henry said gloomy. A sound came up in the background and Henry told them: „Karen, the helicopter just arrived. I´ll hang up now."

„I see you in the station."

„Copie that."

Then he was gone. Karen Vick looked up at her three companions and she saw the same expression in all three faces. Shock and disbelieve combined with a careful relief about the fact that Lassiter was all right. Behind them a man in a brown jacket with thick glasses appeared and knocked on the open door.

„Pardon?" he said. „My name is Allan Jacobson. Computeranalyst. You asked for my assistance with some recordings, I believe."

Karen Vick threw a look at Shawn and he looked straight back at her. The exchange between them

was clear and undisguised. They both knew they had to keep going. The situation was still not solved. Victoria Parker was still in great danger, now perhaps even more than before. Those people had killed two men just to show that they meant it. If they didn´t find Victoria very soon who knew what they would do to her?

„I show you the recordings." O´Hara said.

„You may use the computer station next door." chief Vick added.

Jacobson nodded and followed O´Hara outside.

After they had copied the audio files and brought them over to the analysing station, he immediately began to decrypt it. The sound that came out of the boxes half an hour later was pure noise. Lassiter had been right, they had disturbed the signal and they had done it good. It was this steady whooshing sound that made it almost impossible to hear what the voices said.

_„Lassiter."_ Carlton´s sleepy voice said.

_„Detective Lassiter."_ a man´s voice answered. _„Do you love your wife?"_

_„Excuse me?"_

_„Do you love your wife?"_ the voice repeated.

_„Who is this?"_ Lassiter demanded to know.

_„Who I am is not important. Important is who is with me."_

Then a female voice cried:_ „Carlton?"_

_„Victoria!"_ Lassiter cried alarmed.

_„Oh, Carlton, please help me."_ she sobbed barely understandable over the noise. _„I …"_

_„Until now she is unharmed."_ the man took over again. _„How long she will stay unharmed is up to you."_

_„Listen to me."_ Carlton snarled. _„If you lay only one finger on her, I swear to you I will hunt you down and …"_

He was cut off by a scream of Victoria.

_„NO!" _he cried._ „You are not in a position to threaten me."_ the man told him unimpressed.

_„What did you do to her?"_ Carlton demanded to know.

_„Nothing."_ the kidnapper replied. _„Not yet."_

There was a brief silence.

_„What do you want?"_ Carlton finally asked.

The kidnapper told him to bring him ten thousand dollars to where Shawn had met him in the city and that he was supposte to wear special clothes so the currier would recognize him as the one he was. If he should go to his colleagues at the police … but at this point Shawn had already stopped listening. He knew that part anyway. It was unbelievable but hearing this was almost worse. It made him feel as if he was the one who had been called in the middle of the night to receive such a message. It wasn´t that he couldn´t sympathize with that.

At the end Lassiter was asking the kidnapper: _„Why? Why me?"_

The man chuckled amused. _„Well, that must be the good karma, detective." _he said._ „We all get paid back the good we do in this world, don´t we?"_

_„What?"_

_„Bring the money if you want to see your wife again."_ the man repeated his demand in a cold voice. _„And be in time."_ Then he hung up.

_„Wait."_ Lassiter cried. _„Hallo? Hallo!"_ Then the recording was over.

Jacobson pushed a button to replay the recording. A brief silence filled the room.

„Did any of you recognize the voice so far?" the analyst asked.

„No." Juliet said and Shawn and Gus shook their heads.

„Can you lower the noise so we can hear the other sounds better?" Gus suggested. His voice was heavy with the pressure they all could feel in this moment.

„I was about to do that." Jacobson agreed. He started to work the preferences. Then he started the recording again – on a lower sound this time.


	6. No Time To Lose

**No time to lose**

Karen Vick got the call a minute before the car arrived. She left her office and hurried to the front door. Detective Lassiter had just entered when she reached him.

„Carlton." she greeted released.

The ambulance had found him unharmed save some scratches and bruises. After the helicopter had landed he had jumped out and called for a taxi cap to come to the station. Henry was still on his way back. He had waited for the CSI people to arrive to give them his report before he had headed back. Now he was on the streets while Carlton was already back and on fire. Karen could see the urgency in his eyes. And anger. She could understand that. And though he still looked awfully wasted with all the dirt and and scratches all over his jeans and T-shirt, let alone the big plaster on his cheekbone, she was sure he was in a good enough condition to cause trouble to everybody who should dare to stand in his way.

„I´m so sorry." Karen told him but he didn´t even listen.

„Chief, I need to get back to work immediately." he told her. „The man behind all this is someone I know. I need to find out who he is."

„How do you know that?" she asked confused and followed him to his desk.

„Irving said the kidnapper wanted me to suffer." Carlton explained already typing into his computer. „The way he suffered. This is an act of revenge. Someone holds a grudge against me. It has to do with one of my cases. Most likely one in which I shot someone."

Karen understood what he meant. Still she was worried. He´d just returned after being almost blown up, for a record breaking second time today. His left cheek was the all present proof to that.

„Are you sure you´re feeling all right?" she asked. „You are just …"

„Chief, please!" he cried looking at her with pleading eyes that made her stop at once.

„Lassie!" a voice cried over the hallway. Vick turned around and saw Shawn, Gus and Juliet approaching them.

„Thanks god, you´re all right." O´Hara cried giving her partner a hug. Carlton´s eyes though he accepted her hug, never left Spencer. There was something in this glare, that chief Vick didn´t like. She had seen him looking at the psychic that way before but now there was something more about that. It seemed more dangerous this time. As if Carlton would truly be able to kill him instead of just threatening him.

„Honestly, Lassie." Shawn said. „We´re glad you´re okay."

„Yeah." Gus agreed. „Awful what happened up there."

„Yeah." Shawn agreed, honest regret in his face.

Carlton still stared at him with this strange cold anger. He nodded with a grin that looked like a snarling animal and walked past O´Hara. Shawn noticed the danger in this behavior too and skipped back a little, more confused than actually scared.

„And what did you do all the time? Hm?" Carlton asked him with this disturbing snarly grin. Shawn was about to say something when Lassiter had already grabbed him and pushed him against the wall. „You said, you´d find her!" he yelled into Shawn´s face. „Now where is she? Where? Tell me what you did all this time!"

Gus and Vick grabbed Lassiter´s arms to keep him from strangling Shawn with this rather violent and harsh push against the younger man´s throat. Still he wouldn´t let go.

„Detective!" Karen demanded.

„What did you do while Irving Parker was murdered?" Carlton yelled into Shawn´s face.

„He did work on it." Karen told her detective and finally managed it to make him look at her. „And we are actually already making progress, if you want to know. Listen, Carlton, I understand that you are worried about your wife. But this behavior I can´t tolerate in my station. If you don´t let him go immediately, I´ll have no other choice but to remove you from this place."

Lassiter stared into her face and then back at Spencer, who already seemed to turn reddish under his grip. Eventually he released him and Shawn started to breath again.

„If she dies because of you …" Lassiter pointed at Shawn.

„I know." Shawn interrupted him still gasping for air. „You already told me what happens then. Don´t worry, I won´t forget it. I´m thinking about it all the time."

Lassiter took a deep breath.

„Now why don´t we all get back to work now?" chief Vick suggested sternly. „Each of us to the part that he is supposte to do."

Lassiter was still staring at Spencer. The young psychic did his best to hold this threatening gaze. Then Lassiter spun around and walked back to his desk.

„O´Hara, I need your help." he barked. „There are a lot of files I need to look at. Let´s start."

Chief Vick exchanged a look with Shawn. He was definitely shaken but he seemed to be all right. Guster was the one who looked worried. Eventually Shawn did the same Lassiter had done. He turned around without another word and went back to the room where Mr. Jacobson was still working on the recordings.

...

„What was going on out there?" Jacobson asked when they came back in.

„Nothing." Shawn said wiping some sweat off his upper lip. „What have we got so far?"

„Not much more." Jacobson told him. „I could isolate some sounds but it´s mostly steps and the moving of a chair. Probably the chair the hostage is sitting in."

He changed the preference again to lower the whooshing sound that disturbed the recording, one more time. Until now it was down to a rumbling fuzz, not as steady anymore as it had been before but still annoying enough to remind of a vacuum cleaner. Again the talk between Lassiter and the kidnapper filled the room, their voices now much lower and more buzzing. Shawn couldn´t hear anything helpful in the background. Damn they did a good job with this noise.

„I don´t hear anything." he said disappointed and angry. „There is nothing."

„The equipment doesn´t show anything new either." Jacobson agreed. „Just the stuff we already filtered out. And that is completely useless for naming the place. These noises can happen in any room no matter where the room is."

„Wait a second." Gus suddenly mumbled. He was still listening to the recording. Shawn and Jacobson looked at him waiting. Eventually Gus pointed at the computer. „Can you roll that tape again?" he asked. „But the way it was before you changed it."

„What good would that do?" Jacobson asked.

„Just do it, please." Gus repeated.

The analyst shrugged and changed the recording again back to its original preference. The white noise filled the room again, almost overtoning Lassiter and the other voices – more the other´s than his.

„That is no disturbing signal." Gus realized, his eyes hovering somewhere under the ceiling.

„What?" Jacobson asked. „Of course it is."

„No, it´s not." Gus insisted. „Don´t you hear that? The kidnapper talks louder than Lassiter. As if to overtone the noise. He wouldn´t do that if the noise was only in the line."

Shawn listened closer to what he heard and now that he turned his attention to it, he found that Gus was right.

„You´re right." he said. „This noise doesn´t disguise the background. It _is_ the background."

Jacobson frowned and adjusted the sound again to test this theory.

„But what is that sound?" Shawn mumbled trying to listen hard. At the end it was Gus who had the illumination.

„That´s a train." he cried. „A standing train."

Shawn hold his breath and listened. He closed his eyes and tried to connect the sound he heard with the picture of a train. When he found it, he opened his eyes widely.

„You´re right." he cried excited. „It is a train."

„They must be in a building right at the train station." Gus said.

„No, not at the station." Shawn corrected. „They are _in_ the station. They. Are. In the station. We´ve got it. Lassie!" and with that he was out of the room, running down the hallway to where Lassiter and Juliet were working.

...

The cars came to a halt in front of the train station with squeaking tires. Lassiter jumped out first. At least twelve other officers followed him. So did the chief of police plus two consultants.

„Comb the station." Lassiter barked. „I want them found in five minutes."

„Detective." chief Vick called him back. He turned to her ready to object but when he looked into her eyes he lowered his gaze. He was still on the edge, she could tell from the look in his face, from his tensed shoulders and the clenched jaw. She didn´t want to torture him much more so she hurried to give her instructions to the men and women under her command not his.

„O`Hara, you take your group to the left flank." she ordered. „McNab, you go right. We will search the inside of the station." she told Lassiter. The groups separated and each of them went its own way around the building. Lassiter, chief Vick, Shawn and Gus went through the doors and entered the building.

„Do you get any hunches of where they could be, Mr. Spencer?" chief Vick asked more out of pure hope than anything.

Shawn looked around. The station was literally crowded with people. He tried to remember what he had heard on that tape. It had been near the trains, that much he knew. But there had been no voices of people like they were audible in here. So they had to be in a place apart from this. The train had been waiting, Gus had said.

„There is a little house." he cried, his hand raised to his temple. „Next to the tracks. Or a room in the main building that looks out to the tracks. I´m not sure."

„Everybody, listen up." chief Vick called over radio. „There could be a small house next to the tracks. Look out for that. I repeat we are looking for a small house next to the tracks."

„We see a small house." O´Hara answered. „We are checking it out."

„Understood, O´Hara." chief Vick affirmed. „We´ll keep searching the main building from here. Over."

„Affirmative." Juliet said.

„All right." Vick said. „We should split up and …"

„Right." Lassiter agreed and ran away with Shawn at his heels even before the chief had a chance to say anything else.

Though Shawn had started the very second Lassiter had bolted, he had to hurry to keep up with him. Two times he even thought that he´d lost him in the crowd. But then they reached the east wall and Lassiter stopped.

„Give me something to work with." he demanded when Shawn caught up with him, looking around in haste.

„Eh … I ehm …" Shawn tried to think. He spotted a plan of the building on the wall. „There are stairs." he said. „Somewhere over there. They lead to the upper floors."

Lassiter didn´t ask nor did he wait any longer. He was already on his way. Again Shawn had to run to keep up with him. They had almost reached the door on which a sign showed the diagram of three stairs, when Lassiter´s cell phone rang. He answered it without slowing down.

„O´Hara?" he asked.

„Not quiet." a male voice answered.

Lassiter froze in his steps. Shawn almost ran into him.

„What is it?" he asked but Lassiter didn´t hear him. All he heard was the familiar voice of the kidnapper on the other end.

„I underestimated you, detective." the man said. „You found me. Congratulations."

Lassiter looked around the hall.

„Don´t bother, detective." the man said. „You won´t find me." „He is here." Lassiter whispered to Shawn. Immediately the young psychic started to sweep the crowd with his eyes, looking for a man with a cell phone who looked suspicious. Unfortunately he had to learn that there were quiet a lot of people around who were talking on cell phones and none of them was looking into their direction. He gave Lassiter a helpless headshake.

„I truly thought you were smarter than this." the kidnapper went on. „You don´t seem to care much about her life."

„You have no chance." Lassiter said. „The building is surrounded by cops. Let her go and this might end less ugly for you than it would if you tried to resist."

The man just chuckled.

„What´s so funny?" Lassiter barked. Shawn who had leaned in to listen to the conversation skipped back to save his eardrums from bursting.

„I wasn´t talking about Victoria." the kidnapper said.

Lassiter didn´t understand. Shawn on the other hand, who was back listening in, did understand. It hit him like a fist.

„Everything that happens is because of you, detective." the man said and hung up. Lassiter just stared down at the cell in his hand, not understanding anything.

„It´s Jules." Shawn cried. „It´s a trap. You must warn them."

Lassiter´s eyes went wide when he realized what Shawn was saying. He took the radio from his belt and called in. „O´Hara. Where are you?"

„We are in the house by the tracks, Carlton." she answered. „There is no one here though."

„They must get out there." Shawn cried and took Lassiter´s wrist to tell her himself. „Jules, get outtathere. Now."

„Shawn?" she asked confused. „What´s going on?"

„It´s a trap!" Shawn cried. „They were waiting for us. Get out. Quick."

„All right." she said her voice now full of urgency.

They heard her calling for the other officers to leave the building. But in this moment there was already another sound in the line. A sound they didn´t like to hear at all. And then the radio was disconnected. Shawn and Lassiter stared at each other for three whole seconds. Then they just ran. Out of the building and around it to the tracks. They didn´t need to look for the right direction. The screams of the shocked people and the voices of the calling officers guided them. Shawn could see chief Vick and Gus coming from the other side. Then the only thing he saw was smoke and fire. McNab and the other officers from his team were already there, trying to get the officers out that had survived the explosion.

„Jules!" Shawn cried looking around in fear.

The building was still burning inside, all the windows were smashed, glass and wood lying everywhere around. Then he spotted her. She was lying on the ground, a few feet from the building. A door covered her halfway, what had to be the reason why McNab hadn´t spottet her yet. Lassiter ran to her even before Shawn could change his course and threw the door off his partner. She was unconscious and had a big bruise on her head. Lassiter took her into his arms, trying to wake her up. Her eyelids flickered a little but that was all the response he got.

„She is alive!" he cried while Shawn fell down on his knees next to her. „McNab!" Lassiter yelled. „Call an ambulance! Now!"

The young officer already had his radio in his hand, reporting and asking for help. Barely twenty meters away from them, a white transporter passed by and drove away, while the police men were busy taking care of their wounded colleagues.

...

The stretcher was loaded into the ambulance. Juliet had woken up a minute before but now she was sleeping again. It seemed as if she had been lucky. As it seemed she had been just out of the door when the explosion occurred. Shawn noticed Gus bleaching at this information and unwillingly thought back at the explosion in the Psych office that had almost killed him four months ago. Was that a curse that hung on him? That suddenly all the people he cared about were about to get blown up by some crazy maniacs? He felt sick watching Jules getting loaded into that ambulance. Sure she would be all right. Besides some bruises she would be all right, that at least had been the opinion of the paramedic in charge. But it didn´t help Shawn a bit to feel better.

„What happened?" chief Vick wanted to know. She was as worried and shocked as Shawn, but she coped with this in a much more agressive way. „I´m asking you … How could this happen?" she demanded.

„He knew it, chief." Lassiter said in a low tone. He too was watching Jules being brought away. „He knew we´d come." he said. „He waited for us … and prepared this bomb. It was probably meant for me."

„How could he have known that we´d come?" the chief wanted to know. „We went out on short notice. There is no way he could have known."

Lassiter rubbed the back of his head in desperation. But then his eyes lit up with realisation and he just knew it. „Someone told him." he said.

The chief´s reaction was clearly a doubtful one.

„That´s the only possible explanation." Lassiter insisted.

„You want to tell me that one of the officers in our department is a mole?" she asked.

„Yes."

She started to laugh in denial but Lassiter wouldn´t let go of this idea.

„It explains everything." he said. „You see, I couldn´t understand what he meant when he said, that he would know if I went to the police. But now it makes perfect sense. He would know because someone on the inside is working for him."

Karen was staring at him unsure what to make out of this crazy theory. Eventually she allowed herself to consider it though. Maybe because it made more sense than anything she could have come up with. „Even if you are right with this." she said still hesitant. „How could we possibly find out who it is?"

Lassiter shook his head. That was the part where he had to surrender. When he was honest he had no idea how to find this person, this traitor, who was working for the kidnapper. At least not fast enough so it would make a difference. To save the situation and Victoria, they had to know exactly what they were doing. There was no room for mistakes.

„I´m sorry, detective." the chief said when she realized that he wouldn´t give any answers. „But with just a wild and completely pointless accusation …" She shook her head. „You don´t even know where to start. It practically could be every person working for the department. Not just officers and detectives – god forbid! But also civil staff personal. That is no base to work on."

In his desperation Lassiter didn´t know anything else to do than turning to Shawn. In this moment he wondered, why he hadn´t thought of him earlier in the discussion.

„You must do it, Spencer." he said completely startling the younger man with that. The fake psychic hadn´t expected such a plead at all. But that was exactly what Lassiter was doing. He literally begged: „Tell me that you can find him."

Shawn swallowed about this sudden mental pressure that lay on him. He tried to think. Something had to happen, he knew that as well. He agreed with Lassie. The idea of a spy working for the kidnapper seemed reasonable enough. But how to lure out a traitor without letting him notice that they were looking for him? As soon as he got suspicious, he would inform the kidnappers and then … game over.

Then he remembered something. A game he and Gus had played as kids. They´d called it, where is the point? They only had called it that way, so no one would know what was behind that game. To tell the truth the only connection to the name had been that they had counted each others points in it. But for real it had been about to get their parents to do something for them without them noticing it. Signing homeworks, paying their candy or film tickets, stuff like that. Sometimes Gus had been better but only during the times when Henry had not been distracted with one of his cases. When he was, Shawn´s technique had been unreachable. It had never failed him. Never. And it was the only hunch he had right now. It was a blade of grass he was grabbing now but it was all he had.

„I might have an idea." he said. But already then he was hoping to god that he would be right with this. Lassiter was right. There was no room for mistakes. Not after what just happened.


	7. Tricks And Treats

**Tricks and treats**

„All right everybody, listen up!" chief Vick cried over the gathered officers. „You all know what happened today so I don´t need to tell you how high the stakes are. This case has started to get much bigger than we initially thought. Two of ours were killed in the explosion at the station. More were injured. This man we´re dealing with is not just a regular kidnapper. He is a multiple murderer and he obviously doesn´t care who gets hurt in his way. We have to assume that he holds a personal grudge against detective Lassiter, what is why he chose him as a target."

She paused for a moment and overlooked the faces in front of her. They varied from sorrow over their killed colleagues to determination to get the man who was responsible. „Fortunately we could spot the plate of the van he used to run from us." she went on. „We are now in the process of finding out, where he is." She looked over to her office, where Lassiter was working on her computer, Shawn standing next to him, the two of them debating and consulting with each other occasionally.

„The plan is this." chief Vick went on. „As soon as we know his whereabouts we will leave and go there. Last time he saw us coming and we all know how it ended. Now the consequences of this experience will be that this time we will send in a small group, instead of a big team. That way we hope to be much less suspicious. The rest of you will remain ready here at the station. When the call comes in, you´ll have to be out of these doors immediately to give us backup if we need it."

„Excuse me, chief!" someone cried raising his hand.

„Yes, officer Kersh." chief Vick addressed the asker when she spotted him.

„Wouldn´t it be better if we would leave together with you when you head for the place?" the man asked. „That way we would lose less time."

„Up until now we don´t even know where we will go." the chief explained. „Detective Lassiter and Mr. Spencer are working on it. As soon as they know the location, the team, which I will lead myself, will leave the station. There will be no time to inform you all first. I just wanted you to know that when a call comes in, you are supposte to be ready for a field operation. And I mean ready. Understood?"

Everybody nodded. The chief nodded as well. She was satisfied. The first step was done. Now it was up to Shawn and Carlton. The officers left the gathering and chief Vick was left alone. For a while she was following her officers and detectives with her eyes. She knew each and every one of them. They were all good cops. It was almost unbelievable for her that one of them should be a traitor. But she had to admit that Lassiter´s argumentations had been intriguing. She at least owed it to him to trust his instincts and let him have a try on this part. And Shawn´s idea to lure the mole out was good enough. It was simple. Feed the mole with information and wait for him to make his move. She had prepared the ground for it. Now it was time to go through with it.

She looked over to McNab. The young officer was the only one next to herself, Gus and the two Spencers who was in on the plan. He would leave with them, so it would look like a small group of cops would go on that mission just as she´d said. Guster and Henry would stay behind to keep an eye on the others. If there was a mole, it was up to them to find him. If they would spot any suspicious behavior, they would call Karen on her cell phone. Simple enough. She hoped.

In her office, Lassiter threw a look over the edge of the computer to check on the situation in the bullpen. The chief was there, waiting for them to make their move. Their gazes met for a second and he saw that she was ready.

„I hope you know what you are doing, Spencer." he mumbled at the fake psychic next to him.

„I´m hoping that myself." Shawn replied. „But don´t worry. I sense a eighty-eight percent possibility that this will work."

„Cut the crap." Lassiter growled. „I´m just going along with this because it´s the only chance we have."

„Exactly." Shawn nodded. „And because you trust me." When Lassiter didn´t respond, he said: „Come on, you can admit it. You asked me for advice in this. You wouldn´t have done that if you wouldn´t think that I could …"

„Well, all right, okay?" Lassiter cut him off impatiently. Shawn just smiled.

The detective took a deep breath. With a last checking glance on the outside of the office, he made his decision. It was time to go.

„All right, let´s do that." he said and jumped up from the chair.

Outside Karen tensed at the sight and prepared herself. The detective threw open the door and rushed out into the hallway, Shawn right at his heels.

„We´ve got him." Lassiter barked and was already on his way to the door.

„Where is he?" chief Vick asked but Lassiter wouldn´t wait to tell her. He was so in a hurry that he probably hadn´t even heard her question. That at least was what everybody was supposte to see.

„Officer McNab." chief Vick cried and the young man hurried to follow her. The four of them left the station without looking back. Outside they jumped into their cars, Shawn and Lassiter in one, chief Vick and McNab in the other and drove of with squeaking tires. There was no way anyone in the station could have missed this exit. The second step had been accomplished.

...

Inside the station Henry went over to the coffee maker and poured himself a mug. He slowly started to drink, his eyes intensely locked on everything that was happening around him. Each and every person in his reach was on his radar and he wouldn´t miss a thing. He saw Gus on the other side of the room, strolling around. He was watching too. Not the best key to get everything in, therefor one would need much more eyes. But it was all they had right now. In this point Shawn was right. They couldn´t trust anybody right now.

When Henry had come back, after he´d been stuck in a traffic jam for half an hour, he had laughed about Lassiter´s idea of a mole inside of the department. It sounded too much like a bad TV action show. But considering the facts and all that had happened, the theory had not been that far off. Even he had to admit that. Besides. It wasn´t the first time they experienced something like that. Dirty cops existed. It was a shame but it was true.

Henry himself had never been the perfect one either. He had never been dirty nor had he committed a crime. But covering up someone else´s crimes, was not that much better. The only reason why he wasn´t in jail right now, was the fact that his help on the case had prevented Lassiter – head detective after all – to be killed and six criminals had been arrested. Now he was on probation. One year. Not the usual six months but a multiple murder was not a usual crime to cover up either. No matter what crimes the victims had committed before they had died.

It should somehow comfort him that the system still worked. But it surely comforted him that Karen Vick still trusted him with a task like this one. It told him that at least for him everything could be all right again. One day. A man had to earn trust. And he had gotten a second chance to do so. Not something to be taken for granted.

Now Henry stood in the coffee corner, drinking out of his mug sip by sip … and watched. Waited. If Lassiter was right and Shawn´s plan worked out, he would be right here to see it happen. If the spy should drop his cover to pass the fake message on, the whole thing would be over even before it really started. It was up to him, so he was there. And even if there was still some doubt left, Henry was pretty sure, that there could be one. Yeah, it really was possible. Henry hated to admit that but Shawn barely failed. If he believed in Lassiter´s theory then there was something about it. It was a good plan. It could work. They only needed to wait.

...

A few streets away, two cars were parked at the curbside, each on another side of the street. The occupants were sitting on their seats in tensed silence. They were waiting too. Though their task was probably even harder than the one Henry and Gus had to fulfil. Because the only thing they could do was in fact waiting. They couldn´t even see what was happening in the station. No way of knowing if any progress was made. All they could do was waiting for Henry or Gus to call them. And even then it was not said that the call would be a good one.

„I certainly hope this plan of yours works." Lassiter remarked his fingers nervously massaging his chin.

„Don´t worry, Lassie." Shawn said. „I can guarantee …" He met Lassiter´s warning glance and reconsidered his words. „The chances are good." he finally said. „Believe me. The spirits told me so."

Lassiter gave him a look as if to ask: Really? „You know that I know you´re not psychic." he said.

Shawn looked at him for a while, considering if he should come up with some stuff to insist on his gifts, like he usually did. But then he decided that it was useless anyway. There had been too many things lately that made this superfluous. The act Lassiter had helped him stage when these Santerias had kept them hostage was only the last in the line.

Still he was far from admitting anything, so he just said: „I didn´t ask to be one." And with a sideglance at Lassiter he added: „You guys left me no choice. Now deal with it."

Lassiter didn´t give a response but Shawn didn´t need one. They dismissed the whole subject as fast as it had come up and looked out at the street again. A game they had learned to play quiet perfectly over the years. Don´t ask, don´t tell. Teasing was allowed but only as long as it ended before it got too serious. It had worked perfectly for them so far and Shawn intended to keep it that way.

„If I had had a choice, I´d never agreed to that." Lassiter said after a while.

Shawn immediately knew that he was back at the subject of this plan. Save ground. „I know." he said. „But you had no choice. That´s why we are here now. And of course because you …"

„What?" Lassiter interrupted impatiently. „Trust you? How do you figure that?"

„Don´t you?" Shawn replied. „You know me. You trust my gifts."

„Yeah, if your gifts would be so great you would have stopped Juliet from going into that building before it went off." Lassiter snapped.

Now Shawn´s smile faded. „Okay, that´s not fair." he said truly hurt.

Lassiter´s eyes lost some of the anger that had come up in them. „No." he agreed. „It´s not."

„The paramedics said it looked worse than it was." Shawn recalled more to convince himself than Lassiter. „She surely is back on top sooner than we think."

„Surely." Lassiter agreed looking out of the window. After a while he looked at his watch. „It´s been twenty minutes." he pointed out.

„We should wait a little longer." Shawn said. „Something like that needs time."

„Don´t tell me how to set up a trap, Spencer." Lassiter growled. „I have some more experience with that than you have."

„Sure." Shawn agreed. „But you need some more patience."

„Every minute that goes by is too much." Lassiter said. He slowly started to lose his patience.

„It will pay out." Shawn promised.

„It better." Lassiter growled.

„We just need to wait a little longer. Wait for iiiit."

Lassiter slapped him on the arm with his open hand to stop the stupid singing. „Don´t push me." he hissed. „I´m not in the mood for your silly jokes. I warn you, Spencer."

Shawn massaged his shoulder and sank down in his seat a little. These last words had sounded rather serious. „All right." he murmured. „Just wanted to relax the atmosphere."

...

Twenty minutes had passed. Thirty. Then forty. Nothing happened. The officers were still doing their routine work. They were more tensed than usual but that was to be expected after the chief´s speech she had given earlier. They waited for the call to come in. But as far as Henry could see it, none of them tried to get a secret call _out_.

The guy they had brought in some time ago, Jacobson, was watching the e-mail connections. Not the most legal thing but in a case like this this fell under a grey zone. Constitutional rights were more transparent for cops during their working time and this was the intranet of the department. A watching program had not been hard to install. That at least was, what this cable guy Jacobson had said.

Henry didn´t like him very much. He was a nerd. But he was not a part of the department and therefore he was the only one, that could help them with that stuff without being suspicious himself. The kidnappers never could have known that Karen would bring him in here today. So he definitely was off the list of possible suspects. And to be honest it was a great asset to have someone at hand to watch the computer communication channels. Since almost every cop in the department was working on his computer, Henry or Gus couldn´t have noticed if they were writing reports or e-mails that contained compromising information.

Henry looked at his watch. Three quarters had passed by now. Nothing had happened. He looked over to Gus, giving him an asking face. Gus just shook his head. He hadn´t seen anything either. And Jacobson would have told them already if he would have heard anything.

Henry sighed. It was no use. The plan didn´t work. The spy, so there was one, was obviously too smart to fall for this bait, they had offered him. Or … there wasn´t any spy in the first place. Either way, there was no point in keeping this charade up any longer. He put out his cell phone and dialed Karen´s number to tell her that they could come back.

...

„I never should have listened to you, Spencer!" Lassiter barked when they were back in Vick´s office.

„Detective." Karen tried to put him in his place but he just went on.

„NO! I never should have listened to you!" he yelled so loud that everybody outside the chief´s office looked up in surprise this time. „We wasted an entire hour just because you thought that you had this great idea. An hour in which we could have looked for Viktoria instead."

„Hey!" Shawn now shot back at him. He had listened to all of this for a while, knowing that Lassiter was worried and even more out of his mind than usual. But on a certain point everybody reaches his limit. And his was reached now. He didn´t need to let himself blame for everything that went wrong.

„It was your idea, that there could be a mole." he recalled. „I tried to help you. I tried everything I could to help you. And that is what I´m getting in reward. Insults and accusations. I´m sorry but that was not the deal."

„The deal was to get my wife back alive, Spencer." Lassiter snapped.

„You think you´ll do this by initiating a witch-hunt for a spy?" Shawn replied. „If anyone wasted time here, then it was you."

That finally made Lassiter snap. He jumped at Shawn and grabbed his collar. With fury in his eyes he started to punch him, again and again. Shawn tried to dug away from him, pushing himself backwards through the door out of the office. Lassiter followed him, never stopping with the punching.

„Detective!" chief Vick cried angry and shocked all the same.

Henry hurried to them and grabbed Lassiter to pull him away from Shawn. Lassiter shook him off and would have probably went back after Shawn if not two other officers had grabbed him. He struggled for a moment and then finally gave in. The chief came up to him and stood before him with a stern face.

„This was the last time, detective." she said. „You will leave this station."

„You can´t do that." Carlton argued, still angry. „This is my wife we´re talking about."

„And we will do everything we can to get her back, but you …"

„I will not let this go." Carlton told her.

„You just attacked Spencer violently." Karen recalled. „I have enough of these outbursts of yours. You´re officially off this case. In fact you should have never been on it in the first place."

„Don´t you dare giving me that crap about conflict of interests." Carlton snarled. „I´m not leaving."

„If you don´t leave on your own, you´ll leave me no choice but to put you on suspension." Karen threatened.

This argument finally seemed to get through to him. She gave him a weary look.

„Please." she said. „Carlton, don´t make this harder than it alrea …"

„Fine." he snapped and shook off the hands of the officers, holding him. He looked around and for a moment his gaze met Shawn´s. There was still this cold fury in the detective´s eyes and Karen even expected him to jump at the psychic again. But he didn´t. He looked at her again briefly, with the eyes of a hurt and betrayed man. The big plaster on his cheek stood out like a sign to prove that.

„I´ll go after this myself." he said. „If you don´t do anything, I will."

„Carlton!" Karen cried offended and alarmed but he was already on his way out. „Carlton, I won´t allow that." she said.

He stopped at the door, looking back at her with anger. „Try to stop me." he said. And then he was out.

Karen looked around. There were shocked faces everywhere. That had been an ugly scene to watch. Shawn looked shaken, there was even some sweat on his temples. Guster was holding his friend´s elbow in case Shawn´s knees should give in. He looked as shocked as everybody.

Henry walked up to Karen. „What are you gonna do about him?" he asked her.

She looked at the door, behind which her head detective had just vanished and shook her head. „There´s nothing I can do about it, can I?" she said. „When he is off duty, he is a civilian and I can´t deny a civilian to do something he wants to do."

She looked at the door again and sighed. Eventually she turned to all the people who were still watching them and told them to go back to work. There was nothing left to be seen here. Reluctantly the men and women obeyed.

A few feet in the background, from where he had watched the whole scene, officer McNab eventually left the bullpen and silently headed for the restrooms. Now that was some information the kidnapper would be interested to hear.


	8. Changing The Rules

**Changing the rules**

„Are you sure about it?" the kidnapper asked. He sounded positively surprised about the news that detective Carlton Lassiter had abandoned the police station and was now on the loose somewhere on the streets.

„Absolutely. They tried to trick me by pretending they´d found your place. Wanted me to call you so they could get me. When it didn´t work, Lassiter just lost it. You should have seen him, he went all nuts on the psychic. If he ever comes back here the chief is gonna take his badge from him for good."

„Very interesting." the man on the phone said. „Is your cover save?"

„Don´t worry. No one is suspecting anything."

„All right. Remain at your poste. I´ll get back to you if I need anything else."

„Okay."

The connection was gone and the phone vanished back into the pocket.

It had been a short call. Not longer than a minute or so. Not too long to be in the restroom, McNab mused when he eavesdropped on the door. Very clever. If anyone would have noticed it, there wouldn´t have been enough evidence for raising suspicion. And even better if no one would pay attention at all. What was suspicious about using the restroom? Nothing at all. And this little officer was not the one that drew the most attention. The perfect spy. Smart, practiced and cool. Not one glimpse of guilt was visible on the face of the young officer. At least not until the door out into the hallway was opened and the so far perfect spy suddenly was confronted with at least a dozen colleagues, including the chief and the psychic.

„What´s going on?" Pascaretti asked pretending to be confused.

McNab who stood closest to her stepped forward. „I saw you running away after detective Lassiter left." he explained.

Pascaretti looked from him to the chief.

„Don´t try to pretend." Karen Vick advised the young officer.

„I heard you talking on the phone." McNab explained.

The young woman´s features went tired when she realized that she had fallen for the psychic´s trick after all. The chief stepped forward, a disappointed yet angry look in her face.

„Officer Pascaretti, you are under arrest." she said. „Officer McNab, bring her to the interrogation room."

...

Lassiter was in his car, driving through the streets. This time he just hadn´t been able to only park an wait for it. He had to move around even if he had no target. The movement helped to stand the tension. Oh god, he so hoped that it would work this time. The whole charade had taken long enough. If the plan should fail after all, he had no idea how to proceed. He had been so tensed all the time, he hadn´t even been able to enjoy the part where he had been allowed to pummel Spencer. And that should have been worth a lot. But it hadn´t been. There was just too much at stake.

His phone rang and dragged him violently out of his thoughts. He jumped and almost dropped the cell by trying to answer it. Finally Spencer called. It had taken long enough. Lassiter just hoped that the news were good.

„Yeah." he said out of breath.

„Detective." a voice that wasn´t Spencer´s answered him. „I hear you´re out of business. What a pity. I sure hope it´s not because of me. I would truly regret to have caused you trouble."

„So I was right." Lassiter growled. „How else could you know about it, if there wouldn´t be a spy at the station."

„Unfortunately this knowledge won´t help you anymore." the other one said. „You are on suspension. You´re on your own now."

„Stop playing games you son of a bitch and show yourself to me if you have the guts. You want something from me? I´m here. Leave Victoria out of it and come straight to me like a man. If you want to dance, I´ll show you who is gonna lead."

The other one just chuckled about Lassiter´s anger. „Well." he said. „Maybe the idea isn´t that bad after all. Yeah, maybe we could arrange a meeting."

„Just name the place." Lassiter demanded.

„Come to the town square in twenty minutes." the other one said now without any sound of a smile in his voice. „I´ll be there."

„And Victoria?"

There was a brief silence before he answered: „We´ll see." Then he hung up.

Lassiter threw the phone into the seat and spun the car around full speed. As fast as he could without endangering pedestrians and other road users, he made his way into the city. After a few minutes his cell rang again. After his excessive circling before, the phone was now lying on the ground. Lassiter cursed and bowed down to pick it up as fast as he could.

„What?" he barked. „Already changed your mind you bastard?"

„Wow." a completely unexpected voice replied. Lassiter was so confused that he at first couldn´t place the voice. Not before the other one called him Lassie. „The act is over. We got him." Spencer told him. „You can stop pretending that you are mad with me now. Though I really appreciate your method acting. It was pretty convincing. Not that I´d enjoy it but …"

„Spencer!" Lassiter barked again, this time to silence this waterfall mouth. „Would you please stop talking? I have something to tell you."

„Oh, Lassie, I´m not sure if that is the right time for that. But maybe if you´d make an appointment and come to my office, we could sit down together and talk about …"

„Would you shut up and listen? The kidnapper called me."

„What did he say?" Spencer asked, now completely serious again.

„He wants to meet me."

„Where?"

„At the towns square." Lassiter looked at his watch. „In fourteen minutes from now."

„Shell we send you backup?" Shawn asked eagerly.

„Yes." Lassiter considered again. „No."

„Thaaat …what?" now Shawn was confused.

„I don´t know what he will do." Lassiter explained. „He said he´d bring Victoria or not and honestly I doubt that he will. That means he has to keep her somewhere with someone who watches her. If I were him, I would prepare something in case I got caught."

„You mean … like an order to kill her?" Shawn guessed.

„Exactly." Lassiter replied grimly.

„Okay, so what do we do?"

„I don´t know." Lassiter admitted. Then he just decided: „I will go there. I´m almost there."

„But Lassie." Shawn cried. „You can´t do that alone. You need some backup."

„It´s too late." Lassiter said. „I can already see the marketplace."

„Wait. There is still time. We can come after you."

„No time." Lassiter replied much too calm for Shawn´s taste. „Thanks for trying to help, Spencer." he added and then just hung up. He parked the car and took one last deep breath before he got out to face the kidnapper of his wife. No matter what was going to happen.

...

At the police station Shawn was staring at his cell phone. He couldn´t believe it. He just couldn´t believe it. Had Lassiter really just said thank you? To him? Lassiter never said thank you. Not to him. He had to be completely out of his mind if he had reached that point. And combined with the rest he had said, this couldn´t be good. He wouldn´t plan to get himself killed, would he?

Shawn looked around. No one else seemed to care. Didn´t they hear what just happened? But then he remembered that they in fact hadn´t. That was the moment when his brain started to move again and rapidly. There was only one thing he could do and that one thing he had to do. If he only knew what this one thing was, dammit! It couldn´t be that difficult.

He looked around, searching, begging for a clue. When he didn´t find the clue he was hoping for, he spun around and did the only reasonable thing he could think of in that moment. He opened his mouth and called for Gus.

...

Lassiter looked over the marketplace. There were lots of people around. It was rush hour on the fruit selling and every single grandma, organic food lover and stay-at-home mom seemed to be here right in this moment. The kidnapper had to know that. That was the reason why he had chosen this place. No way someone could spot him in this crowd if he didn´t want to. Dammit. That also meant there was no way for him, Lassiter, to get or better yet, shoot this son of a bitch in case he should try to run away. Not without hitting anyone else.

His hand instinctively searched for the gun under his jacket for mental support. God, how much he wished to get a chance to shoot that bastard. But he couldn´t. Not here. Not before he knew that Victoria was safe. This whole thing had already cost too many lives. With one last breath he went into the crowd.

Slowly he passed the marketplace, looking around with peeking eyes. Occasionally he had to avoid being run over by people who were not watching their own steps. Still he never stopped observing his surroundings. Where are you, you son of a bitch, he thought to himself. Show yourself. I know you are here. I can feel you. But don´t worry, soon you will feel me. You will feel my glock.

Someone bumped into him from behind. He was just about to turn around to apologize when he felt a hand slip under his jacket. The same time he felt the hard peeking in his back from a gun pointing at him, probably hidden in a pocket, so no one would see it. His own gun vanished unused out of his sight. After that was done, the persecutor pushed him forward a little and allowed him to turn around and have a look at him.

Lassiter stared into two grey eyes under two very brushy brows. The face was worn out and sunburned. A scar ran over the right cheek together with some twinkles. That and the grey temples made the man look older than he actually was. Lassiter guessed mid forties. The features of the man were familiar but he couldn´t remember him. He surely never arrested him. That he would have remembered. Maybe a relative of someone he once arrested. No, not just arrested, he corrected himself. Shot. That was the reason why this was happening. Because this man, standing right in front of him now, wanted revenge for the fact that Lassiter had once justifiably shot his weapon pursuing a suspect.

„Who are you?" he asked directly. „What do you want?"

„My name is Don Feldweger." the man answered with a grin. „That was the answer to the first question."

Lassiter´s mind was racing. Feldweger. Feldweger. He had once worked on a case including a John Feldweger. A drug dealer. When they had found his stash, the man had tried to run and on his run he had pulled a gun and threatened to shoot Lassiter and his partner. Lassiter had shot first. The hit had thrown the man backwards, while he was standing on the edge of a parking lot. He had fallen three feet deep down to the concrete of the lower level of the parking lot. At the end it had been the fall that had killed him, not so much the bullet from Lassiter´s gun. It didn´t matter though. The man was dead. Because of him. But this had been almost ten years ago.

„The answer to the second question, is as simple as this." Feldweger went on. „I want revenge. I want you to feel the same kind of pain, I felt after you shot my brother." He squinted at him as if thinking. „Do you have any idea what it means to lose someone that close to you?" he asked. „Do you? Well, I can assure you, soon you will know."

„Listen." Carlton tried to talk to the man.

„No, detective." Feldweger interrupted him. „You will listen to me now. I overheard your conversation you had after I asked you here. And I had to learn that you didn´t agree to our arrangement."

Lassiter flinched. So they didn´t just have his cell phone number, they also could listen in to the calls he took.

„You tried to deceive me." Feldweger now said. „It´s not that I can´t understand that kind of move from you. I would have done the same thing. But I can´t let you get away with it unpunished, can I?"

„What does that mean?" Carlton asked fearful. When Feldweger didn´t answer he said: „Listen. No one is here with me. We can work this out on our own."

„Naa, I don´t think so." Feldweger said. „You see, I think your little friend didn´t quiet get the meaning of the word private meeting. He´ll be here soon. And I´m afraid with that he left me no choice. _You_ left me no choice." While he was talking he slowly had started to back away from him.

„What does that mean?" Carlton repeated his question, now really fearful. „WHAT DOES THAT MEAN, FELDWEGER!" he yelled. Around him some people turned to them confused but more because of the rude disturbance of their quiet afternoon than because of actual worry.

Carlton was about to bow down to get to the gun in his ankle holster, but Feldweger stopped him with a slight: „Ah, ah, ah, detective. I wouldn´t do that if I were you."

He raised one eyebrow and then dropped his eyes to the level of Carlton´s chest. Lassiter followed his gaze and spotted a little red mark on his shirt. Feldweger didn´t give anything away. If he wanted to shoot him or if it was just his way of keeping him in place while he went away. If Carlton would have been forced to take a bet, he would have said, it was the latter.

At the edge of his perception, he noticed that a car drove into the parking lot, on the other side of the square. In the corner of his eyes he could spot a familiar blue color. It was the first time in his life that he was actually glad to see that ridiculous little car.

„You can´t get away." he told Feldweger. „You just heard that? The place it surrounded. There is no way out."

„The place is surrounded." Feldweger echoed as if asking for confirmation.

Lassiter nodded and tried to look like he was convinced about it himself. It didn´t work. Feldweger raised a cell phone to his mouth as if he would speak into a handradio.

„Shoot someone." he said already in the process of turning around.

„No." Lassiter cried and was about to jump after him, when a man standing right next to him got hit in the chest and fell back with a surprised grunt. Lassiter followed the man´s fall with wide eyes. When he looked back to the place where Feldweger had been standing before, he couldn´t see him any more. On the ground next to him, the man was choking and crying in pain. People all around saw the blood and started to scream.

Lassiter cursed and went down to his knees to stop the bleeding. The man screamed when Lassiter´s fist pressed over his wound. That was the moment when Shawn and Gus arrived at the scene.

„Lassie!" Shawn cried wide eyed. „What happened?"

„He got away." Lassiter answered through gritted teeth. „What are you standing around? Go and call an ambulance."

Gus immediately flipped open his cell phone making the call, while Shawn was still taken aback by what he saw. A man lying on the ground, blood running out of his chest, Lassie kneeling beside him and screaming people everywhere. Was that the kidnapper? Had Lassie shot him? But no, he had just said, he got away. So this must be a bystander who had had the bad luck of being in the wrong place. Did the kidnapper try to shoot Lassie and this man came in the way? Not even Shawn´s great observation skills could tell him in this chaos.

It was several minutes later when the ambulance arrived and released Lassiter from giving first aid. The man was taken on a stretcher and real paramedics took care of him. Lassiter didn´t pay any more attention to it. His eyes were searching the building on the other side of the market.

„He had to be up there somewhere." he murmured.

„What?" Shawn asked puzzled.

„The shooter." Lassiter answered more to himself than to him. „The shot came from over there. He must have been in one of those appartements." and with that he was gone, heading for the building. This time Shawn didn´t need to ask. He knew what Lassiter was thinking. Maybe they are still there. Maybe Victoria is up there too.

Shawn attempted to follow and stopped in the movement. He turned around, looking for Gus. But Gus was with the paramedics on the end of the marketplace, helping with the stretcher and wouldn´t hear him even if he yelled for him on Dolby Surround Sound level. Shawn cursed, hesitated once more and then ran after Lassiter.

He had to run zigzag to not to bump into people. At the end he collided with someone two times anyway before reaching the end of the marketplace and the open street. Lassiter had already crossed it and reached the house he was heading for. An old lady who apparently lived there, just left the house and Lassiter slipped in before the door closed behind her again. When Shawn caught up, the door had fallen shut. He knocked but already knew that Lassiter wouldn´t come back to let him in.

„Dammit, Lassie!" he cried. „That´s not fair, buddy!"

The old lady who hadn´t crossed the street yet, came back to him, an understanding smile on her wrinkled face. „Your friend didn´t wait for you, did he?" she remarked amused. „Come on, young man. I´ll let you in." and she stepped forward, inserted the key and opened the door.

„Oh, thank you, dear lady." Shawn exhaled. „God bless you. Thank you very much."

With that he vanished inside the building, not wanting to lose any more time. Who knew what Lassie had found in there. Maybe he and the bad guys were already shooting at each other again. Considering that, Shawn mused, it would be smarter to stay put instead of running right into it, wouldn´t it? He didn´t slow down though. He ran up two stairs, three, four. There he began to feel out of breath and slowed down, even stopped for a moment to collect his breath. From above he heard a cracking sound, as if something had been broken. Immediately he started to run again, up the last two stairs. He found a broken door and Lassiter with a pulled but very small gun standing in an empty and very dirty room.

When Lassiter heard him enter, he spun around aiming at him – only for half a second until he realized it was Shawn and not the kidnapper. Though Shawn had raised both of his hands instinctively. Now he stood that way with his hands up despite the fact that Lassiter didn´t aim at him any longer (he didn´t even look at him) unmoving and looked around. The room was empty except for a table and some chairs. One chair stood separate and had still some cellotape on it. On the floor under the window there were some marks as if someone had had a tripod standing there. The shooter.

„You´re right, they were here." he said and finally lowered his hands.

„Were." Lassiter pointed out in rage. „They´re gone again!" He grabbed the chair and threw it through the room. Shawn flinched at the sudden noise that was so much louder in an unfurnished room like that. Lassiter didn´t even pay attention. „If it wouldn´t have been for that pedestrian, I could´ve gotten to them." he yelled. „He knew it. The goddamn bastard knew exactly how to get me."

„Hey." Shawn said, trying to calm him down. „You had no choice, okay? You did the right thing."

„She was sitting right here, while I was down there." Lassiter went on without listening. He was facing the window. „She probably could see me from here. DAMMIT!"

He was about to hit the wall in frustration or do something even worse when Shawn jumped forward and stopped him just by drawing the man´s attention to him. „Hey!" he cried with a serious face. „Then she saw you. That also means that she knows you´re on her track. Don´t you think that will give her some strength to hang in there? Don´t you? You bet she will. She will hang on until we find her." He looked Lassiter in the eyes and repeated as convincingly as he could: „We will find her."

The anger in those blue eyes was replaced by something that was much more desperate. Eventually the head detective dropped his gaze, exhausted after this outburst of emotions. „How?" he wanted to know.

„Remember the spy?" Shawn asked and made Lassiter look up again. The surprised look in his eyes told Shawn that he in fact had forgotten about the original plan. „She is at the station in the interrogation room." he said. „Waiting for us." He reached out a hand for Lassiter and squeezed the man´s shoulder. „Let´s just go there." he said. „Okay? Then we´ll see."


	9. Interrogation

**Interrogation**

Shawn and Lassiter left the building and went back to the still crowded square. Lassiter immediately went to his car, climbed in and started the motor. Shawn suddenly had a bad idea about what would happen after they reached the station with him in that mood. He could see it so vividly as if he truly had a vision. This could have been funny, if he had the time to laugh about it. But right now, he knew he had to hurry. More than that. He had to fly.

With burning soles he rushed back to Gus´ car. Though it had felt as if he´d spent much more time in that building, where Lassie´s wife had been hold only an hour ago, it now actually seemed as if it had been only some five minutes or so. Gus, who Shawn had seen last time when he´d helped to get the stretcher with the shot guy into the ambulance, was just coming back from that exact position. As if he had just finished the movement, Shawn had seen him doing before following Lassiter. What happened? Had time stopped for a moment? It truly felt like that. That was weird. But if it was true, maybe he could make that happen again to reach the station before Lassiter did.

„Gus!" he cried and waved for his friend to speed up. „Come on, dude. Hurry."

„What is it?" Gus asked, worried that something might have happened.

„Nothing." Shawn said already jumping over to the car. „We need to get back to the station before Lassie gets there. Come on, hurry. Dammit, we´re running out of time!"

Gus hurried around the car and opened it. „Why?" he asked while climbing behind the wheel.

After Shawn was in too, he said: „I explain it on the way. Now hit it, dude. Come on."

„That´s a company car, Shawn." Gus argued. „I can´t use it to race through the city."

„Hmpf. Dude." Shawn cried throwing his head backwards. „If Lassie reaches the station before we do, our spy will be mouse au chocolate."

„That doesn´t make any sense, Shawn."

„For gods sake, could you screw that and get going? Hit the jackal switch. I need you."

„The jackal is stealth not fast."

„Today I need it to be stealth and fast, dude." Shawn replied with a glowing in his eyes, that didn´t miss its effect on Gus. He entered the gear.

„Hold on to something." he told Shawn and then he shot out of the parking lot.

Soon Shawn was the one clinging to his seat, desperately trying not to let Gus notice that he actually was starting to sweat a little. Shit, he should have never called for that damn jackal. Did he never learn? How came it that he always forgot it? How?

Barely ten minutes later they came to a stop again, in front of the police station. Shawn needed exactly ten seconds to find his breath again. Then he jumped up in his seat. They had made it.

„Dude. That was great." he cried honestly impressed and happy. Though his happiness was inappropriately balanced between being happy that they had survived that race and the fact that they had in fact been faster than Lassiter. He unfastened his belt and jumped out. Right in that moment he heard squeaking tires. Lassiter´s car rushed into the parking lot even more fast and furios than Gus had done it. Shawn didn´t want to know how it would have been to drive with him. How could Jules do that day after day without going crazy?

For a moment the thought of Jules still lying in the hospital tried to distract him. But the look of Lassiter preparing to get out of his car (and soon into the station and the interrogation room) made him jump again.

„Gus." he cried while running for the door. „You need to stop him."

„Stop him?" Gus repeated almost shocked. „You must be out of your damn mind. How am I supposte to stop him? Calling for air support?"

„I don´t know." Shawn cried briefly stopping on top of the stairs. „Create a diversion. I need some time to save a life."

With that he was through the door and Gus left alone at the foot of the stairs. He turned around and faced Lassiter who already walked (no stormed) over the street to follow Shawn inside. Now he finally got an idea why Shawn was so afraid of Lassiter reaching the interrogation room in this mood.

Create a diversion. What the hell was that supposte to mean? What kind of diversion? Did he expect him to cry out and fall in front of Lassiter, pretending to have a heart attack? Lassiter would rather step right over him and yell for McNab to call an ambulance as soon as he was inside. Maybe he should try to tell Lassiter he couldn´t enter the station because all the sudden it got repainted. Did Shawn ever think of what he wanted from him? Surely not. If he would, he would have considered that this guy he wanted him to stop, was carrying a big loaded gun.

He stepped into his way so Lassiter couldn´t pass him without looking at him. No way to be ignored.

„Lassiter." he said. „Chief Vick wants you to come to her office."

„I have no time for that." Lassiter growled. „There is a spy in the interrogation room I need to strangle."

„Huuu But she said it is about just that." Gus walked backwards up the stairs still trying to block Lassiter´s way … and not to slip in the process. „And she said it is important that she speaks to you immediately." Lassiter paused for a second. „Now she also said that she needs your weapon." Gus went on and trusting an intuition, he quickly added: „Weapons. The hidden ones you have in your car, too."

Lassiter made a face and briefly turned around to throw a look at his car. „Why the hell does she need them?" he asked.

„I don´t know." Gus answered. „She just said, she wants you to bring them all to the ballistics. It seems to be important for the case. Especially for the interrogation of the spy. To make her talk, you know."

This finally convinced Lassiter. With a determined look on his face he turned around and walked back to his car. Gus exhaled but that didn´t mean that the tension was gone. He had won a few minutes for Shawn. Longer Lassiter wouldn´t need to get his guns to the ballistics and to notice that chief Vick wasn´t waiting for him in her office. And then he would head straight to the interrogation room. If he didn´t realize that Gus had reached the station barely ten seconds before him, that was. If he did, they wouldn´t even have that much time. It was a good thing the detective was distracted. Otherwise he would have known that Gus couldn´t have talked to the chief by any chance. Gus just hoped, whatever Shawn had in mind, he would be quick. Fooling with Lassie while he was in biting mood was not his thing.

...

Inside the station, Shawn had just reached the interrogation room. To his big surprise he found Jules standing there, waiting. There was a bandage around her head and her left cheek was red with a scratch. She had also some more bandages at her arms and plasters on her hands. But she was standing straight, almost as if nothing happened.

All the sudden Shawn´s hurry was forgotten and he stopped. „Jules!" he cried first surprised, then happy, then worried. „What are you doing here, out of the hospital?" he asked. „How are you?"

„It´s … nothing." she assured him waving away all her bandages and her tousled appearance with a smile. „I´m fine, really."

„Great." he said, still not really convinced. „No really, that´s great. I thought … After that explosion … I mean."

He didn´t find the right words and there was an awkward pause between them. Juliet filled it by asking him: „Where is Carlton?"

„Ehm. Outside." Shawn said while it slowly came back to him why he had come here in the first place. „Right outside." he said. „In fact … he is right behind me. Ehm … sorry, I … I need to go in there. Right now."

„What?" she cried and tried to run after him. „Shawn the chief is in there. She questions the mole."

„I know." he said reaching for the doorknob. Before opening the door he stopped once more and looked back at her. „I´m glad that you´re okay." he told her. „I really am."

With that he vanished through the door so fast she barely saw that he had opened it at all. And though she was still shocked about him crashing the chief´s questioning, she couldn´t help but smiled.

Inside the room, Shawn had put every thought about Jules and how glad he was that she was all right, away into the back of his mind. He needed to focus on what came now and he needed to be quick. When he suddenly stood in the room with her, the chief turned around and faced him with a look of disbelieve in her face.

„Mr. Spencer." she cried.

„It´s all right, chief. I take it from here." he said.

Karen was so startled that she didn´t know anything else to do but laughed about this as if it was a joke. „Mr. Spencer." she started to lecture him about police procedure and protocols but Shawn had already passed her and faced the spy.

„Oh Lucy, you have some explanation to do." he said with a shake of his head.

„Her name is Penny." chief Vick corrected him slightly confused.

„I heard it both ways." Shawn replied in his usual way.

„And when exactly did I ask for your help, Mr. Spencer?" Vick went on. „This is an official police interrogation and I am the one questioning this suspect." She threw a sharp glance at Pascaretti. „Especially since she is … was under my command."

Pascaretti just snorted about the chief´s anger. Karen made herself ignore it and turned to Shawn again.

„So if you don´t mind, I would like to go on and get some answers from her." she said.

„So she is talking?" Shawn asked.

There the glance in the chief´s eyes became unsteady. A look over into Pascaretti´s eyes told him the answer. No, she wasn´t.

„You have nothing you can use against me." she claimed.

„We have lots of evidence against you." the chief hit back with a triumphant yet disbelieving grin.

„And guess what." Shawn supported her. „I don´t even need those evidence. I know it was you, Lucy."

Pascaretti chuckled. „You do?" she asked.

„Yes, I do." Shawn replied with his hand on his temple.

„You don´t even know my name." she said.

Shawn frowned and looked at the chief. „Didn´t I just say her name?" he asked and shook his head in confusion. Chief Vick threw up her hands in exasperation and confused him even more. He decided to skip this part and turned back to Pascaretti. „Anyway …" he said.

„Save your breath." she interrupted him. „I won´t tell you anything."

Shawn looked at her for a moment and found that she probably really wouldn´t. He turned to the chief and whispered at her: „Did you offer her immunity?"

When she only looked at him confused he explained: „That´s a paper signed by the president … that promisses her …"

„I know what immunity means, Mr. Spencer." she cut him off. „And no. We don´t offer such things to our suspects."

„Well." Shawn shrugged. „I just thought … since we are a little short on time here …" he shrugged again. „It always works for Jack Bauer."

„This is not 24, Mr. Spencer." the chief informed him just in case he didn´t know.

„I know but …" Shawn whispered. „No? Okay."

The chief closed her eyes in exhaustion and shook her head.

„There is nothing you could offer me anyway." Pascaretti said behind him. He turned around, shocked that she had heard everything they had talked about. And he had tried to be so silent.

„I´m not so sure about that." he picked up his interrogation voice again. „I can offer you safety."

She snorted again. „I´m not in any danger." she said.

„I´m not talking about your gangster boss." Shawn replied. „The real danger for you … comes from another man. A man that is waiting right outside that door." He pointed at the door. „If I let him in here … I don´t think that you want to know that, Lucy. So you better talk to me, before he gets his gun to let _it_ go on questioning you."

She threw a look at the door and it was obvious that most of her arrogance just flew out of the window. Then she faced Shawn again in a pathetic try to keep the arrogance up. It didn´t work.

„I don´t believe you." she claimed.

„You can believe it." Shawn chuckled. „He will come in here very soon and then you are so dead, man. Ehm, girl. Woman. Suspectress."

„Nice try." she said, now a little more secure again. „But that won´t happen. Do you really expect me to believe that Lassiter would kill me? The guy is a cop. He´d never do that."

„Before … I would agree with you." Shawn said. „But you helped to kidnap his wife. You put her life in danger. So I wouldn´t count on his good natured heart anymore if I were you. Now he´d shoot you in a dark allay and leave evidence that it was your gangster boss who did it." He blinked over this, thinking. „Actually that´s a pretty cool idea." he mused. When he realized what he just said he shook his head and tried to focus again. He held Pascaretti´s gaze, what was more and more insecure by now. But then she put herself together again, looking at him as stubborn as before.

„Think about it." Shawn tried to reason with her. „It´s your last chance. You should talk to me."

An almost evil smile appeared on her face, that said more than any word she could have used. Shawn´s facade was about to crack. He had already expected Lassiter to come through that door and blow his whole charade he was playing here. That it didn´t already happen was almost a miracle. But now it seemed his last chance was gone. This chick was such a tough nut to crack. And that since he was truly here to keep her from being accidentally killed in Lassiter´s interrogation. Why did people never appreciate it when he tried to help them?

„Go to hell." Pascaretti just told him and made him raise both brows. „You´ll hear nothing from me."

In that moment, as if it was on cue, they heard Lassiter´s yelling from outside the door, demanding to be let through. First it gave Shawn a fright when it came up so suddenly. But then he managed it to keep a steady face, looking at Pascaretti almost with regret.

„That´s really a pity." he said, shaking his head and stepping a little back in preparation. Even the chief cleared the space between the door and the table. Then the door flew open and Lassiter rushed in. His first look was at Shawn and the chief, but then his eyes had found Pascaretti and his anger increased until it had reached the state of fuming. The former officer ducked visibly down, facing that.

Shawn stepped back into her field of vision, shaking his head again. „I tried to warn you." he said. „But you wouldn´t listen."

„Did she tell you where Victoria is?" Lassiter demanded to know without looking away from her.

„Nope." Shawn answered. „Doesn´t want to."

Lassiter rushed forward, grabbing the edges of the table and leaning over it. That all happened so fast that Pascaretti thought he was about to really jump at her. She skipped back until her back hit the wall. Shawn was so impressed he almost forgot to keep the game up. But then he leaned sideways to look around Lassiter´s back and into Pascarretti´s face.

„Last chance, Lucy." he said.

This little piece almost broke Lassiter´s mask of anger, when a brief frown brushed over his features. But as soon as it had come, it went away and he looked as frightening as before. Maybe even more.

„Is that your real name?" he asked Pascaretti with a slight grin that almost looked like a snarl.

„My real name is Penny Pascaretti." she objected now insulted and faced Shawn with an angry look in her eyes. „Your little psychic here has some more issues to solve if he can´t even keep that in min …"

„I don´t care what your name is!" Lassiter suddenly yelled at her and shoved the table out of his way. Pascaretti got the biggest frightened eyes Shawn had ever seen in someone´s face.

Jules and Gus, who had been waiting in the door came running in now.

„Carlton!" Jules cried.

„Detective!" chief Vick tried to call him off.

„That was so cool." Shawn exclaimed. He was still stunned.

Despite the first two cries, who had been totally ignored, this one brought Lassiter back out of his rush. He stood up straight again and looked around at Shawn, frowning in confusion.

Chief Vick used the diversion and placed herself between Lassiter and Pascaretti. As soon as Lassiter noticed this, he remembered what he had been about to do just a second ago. But his flash of anger was broken and when the chief blocked his way, he stopped. She looked at him as threatening as she could. Though she was barely able to contain the compassion, that she still felt for his situation.

„Detective, you will leave this room." she ordered him.

Lassiter looked at her and then at Pascaretti again. One last time the anger flamed up in his eyes. Pascaretti had no way to overlook this. Then he turned around and went out.

For a moment there was a dead silence in the room. Gus and Juliet exchanged a worried glance and then looked over to Shawn and the chief. Karen gave them a nod as if to say: _it´s all right, guys. We can handle that._ The two of them accepted that and turned around to leave the room again. Shawn didn´t pay much attention to that silent communication. He was watching Pascaretti closely and he could tell that she was scared. Eventually he walked a few steps, swinging a little as if all of this was just a little chat they had had so far. He was smiling in an I-told-you-so way and finally he came through to her.

„I want a deal." she said.

Chief Vick started to laugh about that. „You will get nothing like that." she said matter of factly. It almost sounded like a promis when she added: „You´ll go to prison for what you did."

„But at least you will be safe there." Shawn added. „Save from Lassiter _and_ your gangster boss. ´Cause let´s be honest, he will be quiet pissed too when he learns that you turned him over."

Chief Vick threw him a glance as if to ask: What the hell, Spencer? He immediately understood that this might not be the best way of convincing Pascaretti to betray her boss. But before he even could open his mouth to say something equally wrong to make it better, Pascaretti said: „All right. I´ll talk."

Chief Vick threw a glance at Shawn that said how positively surprised she was. Then she turned to the suspect again. „All right." she said. „I´m listening."

Shawn didn´t stay to listen though. He went out of the room to follow Lassiter. He just couldn´t stand it any longer. His legs were shaking and he didn´t want Pascaretti to see him crock up. He found Lassiter in the viewing room, along with Gus and Jules. The two of them had still the aftermath of the shock on their faces, Lassiter had caused all of them with his act in the interrogation room. The detective himself seemed to be oddly quiet now. He had his hand on the frame of the one-way mirror and was watching the rest of the show with a slight smile on his lips. When Shawn entered they all turned to him. But all Shawn could see was Lassiter´s unexpected calmness. He started to shake his head in amazement, when the realisation hit him.

„That was … just great." was all he knew to say.

Lassiter made a flattered face as if to say: Please. It was nothing.

Juliet looked back and forth between them, even more shocked now than she had been before.

„Wait." she cried. „That whole thing was a setup?"

„What?" Gus cried offended. „You planned this? Then why did you tell me to stall? Are you out of your damn mind? Shawn!"

„Easy, buddy." Shawn said and looked at Lassiter again, smirking. „Nothing of this was planned. And that made it even cooler. I had no idea that you could act so convincingly, Lassie. For a moment I really thought you´d kill her."

Lassiter stood up straight again, letting go of the mirror. There was an unreadable look on his face. „Who says I was acting?" he asked.


	10. Freeze

**Freeze**

The cars were rushing down the streets. Three black and whites, a Crown Vick and one small blue Toyota Echo between them. Though Shawn was pretty sure that Lassiter needed all his will power to not to break out of that formation and to just race to their target all on his own. Now that they knew where the kidnappers were hiding and they seemed to be so close to finding Victoria that Shawn wondered why it hadn´t happen already. Maybe it was because Jules was with him in the car. Lassiter might have risked his own life by driving like a maniac, but Jules had been in hospital already once today and he surely wouldn´t want to risk this to happen again. Shawn was grateful for that. Not just because of Jules´ safety but also because it proved that Lassie was still able to think properly. Could be a good thing as soon as they met the kidnapper. Could spare them all a big mess.

He still stopped his car with squeaking tires and jumped out even before the chief and anyone else was able to open their doors. Fortunately he contained himself long enough to wait for them all before running into the building.

„All right, everybody." the chief cried. „The suspect is assumed to be in appartement 184. Secure the street. We go in."

When Shawn was about to follow her (Gus on the other hand was more than happy that he was allowed to stay put) she stopped him with the famous three words: „You stay here."

Shawn remained where he was with an obedient expression – until she was out of sight. Then he ran after them anyway. Gus´ cry for him to wait didn´t make any difference. He hurried into the building and up the stairs, always trying to avoid it to be seen by the chief or Jules. Not yet at least. When they had found the appartement, Lassiter immediately aimed his gun at the door to shoot it open, but chief Vick called him back. It was only her stern character and the fact that he knew her for so long, that made him obey. He managed it to wait for her to knock and call: „S.B.P.D. Open the door."

Inside they heard a noise and then a shot. This time Lassiter didn´t wait for anyone to give him permission, but kicked the door open. Shawn hurried after them as soon as they were through the door. He immediately noticed that there was no one in the appartement. Not anymore. A window was open and outside he could hear the sound of banging metal. Someone was trying to escape over the fireladder.

„Mr. Spencer, I told you to wait outside." chief Vick cried when she noticed Shawn´s presence.

Lassiter who had heard the same noises like Shawn, didn´t pay any attention to them but rushed over to the window.

„Freeze!" he yelled and then shot down. Then he cursed and climbed out of the window to follow the refugee.

They all rushed to the window and looked after him. They could see a man jumping down the last few feet to the ground and then running away. Lassiter was right on his tail, shooting several times but missing. There was a big construction side behind the building. The two men were heading straight for it. Jules immediately climbed out of the window to follow her partner.

„Everybody." the chief called in over radio. „The suspect is running north over a construction side. I repeat the suspect is running north …"

Shawn didn´t hear the rest. He was looking around. Why was Lassie´s wife not here? Pascaretti had said that she would be here. But she wasn´t. There hadn´t been enough time for them to bring her away. Did this mean she had been gone before? Or had she never been here at all? But there was a chair what had some remains of tape on it. She had been here, all right. But now she was gone. Again.

The chief was climbing out of the window now too. Shawn followed her. Before he was completely out of the window, he spotted some bags and a passport on the drawer. He only saw it for a few seconds. Then he climbed down the ladder along with the others.

The construction side was surrounded by a deep dig. Obviously there was a complete new building in the process here. The dig could only be crossed over a bridge that actually wasn´t much more than a plank. Feldweger was running over this plank right now, while Lassiter was shooting after him. The plank was staggering dangerously but Feldweger didn´t seem to care. He reached the other side and kept running as if he hadn´t even noticed. Lassiter cursed and reloaded his gun while following him.

„Carlton!" Jules cried afraid that he would fall. He didn´t seem to hear her.

Again the plank was staggering wildly. Lassiter lost his balance for a second but just like Feldweger he didn´t seem to notice the danger he was in. He found his balance again and ran the rest of the way without any problems. His last step made the plank jump up violently but he didn´t notice that either. Nor the fact that it fell down into the dig with a loud crash. Jules and chief Vick could only stop in shock and look after him how he vanished around a heap of steel beams. Then they heard him shoot again.

„Everybody." the chief radioed again, out of breath. Shawn didn´t listen to what she said. He was looking around for another way to cross that dig. His feet were still in desperate need to move. When he spotted a chance (a rather stupid one admittedly) he ran away too fast for Jules or the chief to realize that he was gone. When they did, he was already halfway there. They immediately attempted to follow him … to stop him from this insane try to cross the dig.

...

On the other side, on the construction side, Lassiter had reached Feldweger. The kidnapper had obviously miscalculated his lam and ran into a dead end. By trying to run back he had run right into Lassiter. The detective looked into the face of the man that had threatened the life of his wife and had forgotten all about his gun. He started to punch the bastard vigorously. They struggled for a moment, but then Lassiter swirled the other man around and shoved him into a wall of concrete wall parts. He pressed his arm against Feldweger´s throat and then aimed his gun at his nose. Feldweger immediately stopped struggling.

„Where is she?" Carlton demanded to know. When Feldweger didn´t answer he yelled the question into his face. But Feldweger just grinned and coughed under Lassiter´s grip.

Lassiter pulled back the hammer of his gun. „You´ll tell me now." he said. „Or you´ll talk to my gun. Where is she?"

„She is safe." Feldweger said. „So far."

Lassiter wasn´t sure what he would do next, but in this moment a loud crashing sound came from behind the other corner. He and Feldweger turned around to see a cloud of dust coming from there. Then a coughing and waving Shawn Spencer stumbled around the corner.

„Spencer!" Lassiter cried surprised. „How the hell …?"

„There was a heap of hoses lying over that dig." Shawn explained still coughing. „I don´t think that it is still there though. This is a really dangerous construction side."

He coughed again and then squinted. „Oh, good, you have him." he noticed. „Chief Vick and Jules are trying to come from the other side. Somewhere over there. Did he tell you where Victoria is?"

Now Lassiter remembered the question he had been asking himself and turned back to Feldweger.

„Not yet." he said what seemed to amuse Feldweger.

„She is with some friends of mine." he now told him. „They´ll take good care of her."

„Where are they?" Lassiter yelled again.

„Tell me, detective." Feldweger replied. „How does it feel? Not to know. How does it feel?"

Lassiter was about to pull the trigger when Shawn suddenly said: „They are on the way to Mexico."

Lassiter was so startled that he didn´t know what to say. So was Feldweger. When they looked over to Shawn he had his hand at his temple.

„What?" Lassiter asked.

But Shawn was looking at Feldweger. He nodded as if he had just gotten confirmation from him. „It´s true, isn´t it?" he said. „You were about to follow them. Just before we came in. They left right after the incident on the town square, didn´t they?"

Feldweger´s face told him that he was right.

„You bastard, you never intended to let her go." Lassiter cried and pushed Feldweger harder against the wall. Then he turned back to Shawn, a wild chevied expression in his eyes.

„Do you know where they are, Spencer?" he wanted to know.

Shawn hesitated. „I … I can find them." he said.

„Sure?"

„Yeah." Shawn answered with a confused shrug.

„No." Lassiter insisted. „I mean are you absolutely sure, that you can find her?" he demanded a serious answer.

Shawn looked into those desperate blue eyes and promised: „We´ll find her."

Lassiter hold his gaze for a moment. Then he nodded.

„All right." he said and turned back to Feldweger. „Don Feldweger, you are under arrest." he told him. „Shawn, go back and tell O´Hara and Chief Vick. I´m right behind you."

Shawn hesitated. Something on this whole scene didn´t feel right. He chuckled nervously.

„Why don´t you come with me, right away?" he asked.

Lassiter just threw him a glance but didn´t answer. It looked as if he wasn´t sure himself.

„Come on, what´s the matter?" Shawn asked.

„Just go, Shawn!" Lassiter demanded.

The fake psychic was stunned for a moment. Not just because of the fact that Lassiter had used his first name, what seemed to have become a habit when something bad was in the process of happening. But there was something in the detective´s eyes that shouldn´t be there either. But worst of all. There was something in the suspects eyes, too. A smile that gave Shawn the creeps.

„No." he said and when Lassiter shot him a warning glance, he said: „Sorry but …" he chuckled again but this time it was completely humorless. „ No." he repeated. „I can´t. And you know that. Lassie. That´s not worth it."

„I´m arresting a suspect." Lassiter claimed.

„Yeah, sure." Shawn replied. „And under any other circumstances I wouldn´t even question that. But I´m a pretty serious 24 watcher and this … can´t be good. Come on, Lassie, you´re not like this."

Lassiter looked at Feldweger again. There was sweat on his forehead. His fingers were clinging tighter around his gun, his finger tightening on the trigger without pulling it yet.

„Lassie." Shawn cried. When he got no reaction he called again. „Carlton."

This finally made the head detective look at him again. Shawn couldn´t believe that they were in a situation like that. He still didn´t dare to come any closer to the two men. Not that he was afraid Lassiter would shoot at him, but there was something in this whole situation that made him keep his distance. Now he looked at the detective with stern eyes and said the only words that he knew would come through to Lassiter: „That´d be murder, detective."

Finally the expression in Lassiter´s eyes changed. The hardness vanished and was replaced first by confusion and then by realization. When he looked at Shawn again he seemed almost scared. He hadn´t even noticed how close he had been to become a murderer. His eyes were holding onto Shawn´s in an almost pleading way, in the desperate need for someone to tell him that things were still the same. That they would be all right despite of all that had happened. So close. So close he had been to lose the ground beneath his feet, to fall down into that abyss. And it had been Shawn from all people in the world, the fake psychic, the overgrown child, that had saved him from this fall. When Shawn now nodded at him reassuringly, Lassiter felt the strength vanishing from his body. What had happened to him? What was he doing here?

In this moment Feldweger took advantage of his weakness that had overcome him and reached for his gun. The push he gave him was so suddenly and so unexpected that Lassiter fell backwards without any struggle. Feldweger took his gun and used it. But instead of pointing it at Lassiter he aimed at Shawn. The fake psychic who had started to run over to them to help, tried to stop and slipped on the sandy ground. His hand reached behind to find the ground before his butt did, while his eyes could only see the gun in the bad guys hand. The black hole that was pointing at him. And then there was a shot.

But it wasn´t Shawn who was hit. It was Feldweger.

The criminal looked over to his right, where Lassiter sat on the ground, the little gun in his hand he had just pulled from his ankle holster. Feldweger chuckled. Then he turned to look at Shawn again and raised the gun a second time. Lassiter shot again before he could.

Shawn heard Jules voice calling his name. The next thing he knew was that someone was by his side. But it wasn´t Jules. It was Gus. His hands were clinging into his shoulders.

„Shawn, are you ok?" he asked and tried to pull him to his feet.

On the other side Jules was helping Lassiter to stand up, casting worried eyes over to them, while the chief was checking on the suspect. She kicked the gun away from his hand and then bowed down to feel his pulse. She found none.

„What happened?" she asked.

„He … he tried to shoot me." Shawn stuttered. „Why did he try to shoot me? This doesn´t make any sense."

„It does." Lassiter replied. „Feldweger never intended to kill _me_." he said looking down on the dead man. „He only wanted to crack me. By hurting people I care about. He would have shot anybody just to make me watch it." He met Shawn´s gaze again. „Thanks by the way." he said.

„Any time." the fake psychic replied.

Jules threw a confused look at the chief, who answered her gaze the same way. „Didn´t he just save _him_?" Jules asked confused.

Gus could only shrug.

...

„We have to hurry." Lassiter said and holstered his gun. „You said they are in Mexico?" he asked Shawn.

„Yes, I saw …" Shawn made himself stop before he gave away that he simply saw the passport. „I see them heading for the border. I see passports and bags."

„Then we´ll go there too." Lassiter decided.

„Detective, wait." chief Vick cried. „This is outside of your jurisdiction. You have no authority there."

„Chief with all due respect, I don´t care about my authority. These men have my wife. I will not sit here and wait while they are doing I don´t know what to her."

„But … the Mexican border is hours from here." the chief argued. „Until you are even halfway there everything could be over. Let me make the call. The colleagues down there will take care of everything. And we could get a positive report much sooner this way."

Lassiter hesitated.

„You did everything you could, detective." Karen told him. „Now let us do the rest."

Eventually he gave in. She was right. The way was far too long for him to drive. Spencer had said they might have left two hours ago. So their headstart was too big for him to catch up even if he had no other traffic members to watch out for. His limit was reached. There was truly nothing he could do. Not anymore.

He felt a hand on his arm and looked down into his partner´s eyes. She motioned him with her eyes that it was ok. No one would blame him from stepping back now, especially not Victoria. And of course she was right. It was just so hard to do, to stop and let others take over what was truly his responsibility. She had been taken hostage because of him after all. But his strength had reached its limits and he just couldn´t fight against logic any longer. At the beginning of this day he might have been able to ignore it, to fight back reasoning and rationality. But the sun was going down now and he had barely slept three hours in the last two days.

„All right." he said quietly but the feeling of reluctance was there nevertheless.

He saw relief in the eyes of all his companions. The chief maybe more than the others. She took her hand radio up and called the operator to inform them about what had happened and that someone should give the police down at the border a call. After that nothing was left for them but to let CSI take over the dead suspect and drive home. And wait, the hardest part in all of this.

...

It took hours. Hours in which they kept themselves awake with coffee and the pathetic tries to assure Carlton that things would be fine. As soon as the phone would ring the cops from down at the border would tell them that they had found Victoria and that she was fine. The phone rang a couple of times but everytime it was something different. After a while even Carlton was too tired to do more than to threw a glance over to the chiefs office. As long as he saw no reaction from her he could be sure it wasn´t about Victoria. But at last the chief took a call and immediately started to wave for them to come into her office. She had been about to stand up but could keep her anxiety under control. She was sitting bolt upright though while she listened to what the officer on the other end told her.

„That´s right." she said. „Did you …? Ok. I understand." She threw a brief look at her detectives but there was still nothing clear in her face. She was still waiting herself. Then she listened again. „Yes." she said, trying not to sound tensed. „What happened?"

She listened nodding and then her face went pale with shock. Her reaction was so pervasive that it instantly planted itself on all their faces. Karen blinked. „Are you sure?" she asked for confirmation. Her voice was choked. „I understand." she said at last. „Thank you, Officer Ramirez." Then she hung up and looked at Carlton with desperate eyes.

He was struck and wouldn´t be able to move even if he´d wanted to. She didn´t need to say it. They all had already understood.

„I …" Karen started shaking her head. „I´m so sorry, Carlton."

...

The appartement was quiet. Quieter than usual. Though there were definitely more people in it than usual. Juliet, Spencer and Guster were still here, but as far as Carlton was concerned they could have been on the other end of the world. In his mind there was nothing. It was just blank.

Somehow he managed it to wonder. He would have expected to feel sorrow. Pain. Something. But there was nothing. He had identified Victoria´s body over a foto the local authorities down at the border had sent them. The coroner hadn´t given a full statement yet but it as pretty sure that she had been raped. Several times. The cops had found her body after they had failed to catch the criminals before they could get away to Mexico. At the end they had been a few minutes too late. For both parts of their mission. They could neither arrest the criminals nor save the victim. The whole thing had gone down rather unspectacular. Not even a car chase had been involved. At the time the cops had reached the border the criminals had been gone already. Nothing to chase after. Obviously Feldweger had given order to kill Victoria if they shouldn´t hear from him within a certain time. Or, what Carlton believed, he had ordered to kill her right away, since he´d never really intended to let her go. It was true what he had said back at the construction side. Feldweger´s main target was it to hurt him. And what would hurt him more than to face the fact that after all the efforts he had bearded himself with all day long, he hadn´t been able to save her? He was right. It hurt. And still he couldn´t mourn. He tried but there were no tears.

„They´ll come." Juliet had said trying to comfort him. „Just give yourself some time. The chief has signed you free for a while. For as long as you need." There her voice had cracked a little but she had tried her best to be strong. „If you need someone to talk …" she´d said and he had nodded. More he couldn´t do anyway. There was nothing left to say. Not today at least. It was almost two in the morning now. Almost the time when he had gotten the call twenty four hours ago. It did surprise him that not only Juliet but also Spencer and Guster were still here. That was strange. Usually that wasn´t a time for them to still be awake and working. It was also strange why he thought about things like that in this moment.

„Are you sure you are all right?" Juliet asked one last time and he nodded.

„Don´t worry, I´m fine." he said.

She gave him a doubtful look that he could only answer with a blank one. Her hand was still in his shoulder but if he was honest he had rather not have it there. But he didn´t say it. She was just trying to help.

„You know you don´t have to be fine." she said and he nodded again.

At last she threw a look at Shawn and Gus, who were as helpless as she was. She squeezed his shoulder one last time.

„I could stay if you want to." she offered. „Maybe it´s better if I do."

„No, I´m fine." he said. „I´m fine."

Shawn and Gus exchanged a worried glance with each other but didn´t say anything. At last they said their goodbye and left. If that was possible then the appartement was even quieter after the door had shut behind Juliet. Carlton had no idea that silence could hurt so much in ones ears. After a while, that could have been five minutes or five hours, he stood up and switched on the radio. He needed to hear some sounds to know that the world out there hadn´t come to an end. They just played the last accords of a song and then the moderator´s voice was talking.

„Good night or good morning to all of you out there who are either still awake or have to stand up early to go to work." he said. „It´s a beautiful night here in Santa Barbara. A night one should use to be together with his sweetheart if he can. Look at the stars in the sky and remember how good it feels to be alive." And with that he played a slow love-song that had the potential to make a person feel sleepy hearing it at this hour at night. Feeling sleepy was exactly what Carlton needed. Yes, he wanted to sleep. Sleep and forget. But first he needed something else. So he went over to the kitchen, got a glas out of the cupboard and poured himself a Whiskey. It was time to let this day come to an end. Oh, yeah, that was long overdue. God, he was so tired.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, I always said the character death is possible in my stories. You´ve been warned. But that ending was inevitable for the next story. So yes there is a third one coming up. See you then.<strong>

**And thanks for reading.**


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